Retaining Effective Teachers Policy
Washington provides a mentoring program for some of its new teacher. Although not required, local districts may apply for Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST) grants. For the 2011-2012 school year, Washington awarded grants to individual districts or consortium of districts that meet specific criteria. The criteria include: paid orientation for new teachers; assignment of a qualified mentor; development of a professional growth plan for each beginning teacher aligned with professional certification; release time for mentors and new teachers; teacher observation time with accomplished peers; and professional development opportunities for mentors and new educators.
Ensure that a high-quality mentoring experience is available to all new teachers, especially those in low-performing schools.
Washington 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, Washington 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.
Washington was helpful in providing NCTQ with the facts necessary for this analysis.