Retaining Effective Teachers Policy
Louisiana no longer requires that all new teachers receive mentoring. The state's LaTAPP program (Louisiana Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program), which mandated mentors for new teachers, was repealed in 2010.
Ensure that a high-quality mentoring experience is available to all new teachers, especially those in low-performing schools.
Louisiana should ensure that all new teachers—and especially any teacher
in a low-performing school—receive mentoring support, especially in the
first critical weeks of school.
Set specific parameters.
To ensure that all teachers receive high-quality mentoring, the state
should specify how long the program lasts for a new teacher, who selects
the mentors and a method of performance evaluation.
Require induction strategies that can be successfully implemented, even in poorly managed schools.
To ensure that the experience is meaningful, Louisiana should guarantee that
induction includes strategies such as intensive mentoring, seminars
appropriate to grade level or subject area and a reduced teaching load
and/or frequent release time to observe other teachers.
Louisiana was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis. Louisiana noted that the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) is expected to adopt policy providing regulations around the implementation of the new teacher and leader evaluation system in December 2011, including revised teacher and leader induction programs. This policy will be contained within Bulletin 130 and will be available on the BESE website, following passage by the Board.