New Teacher Program - NEIU: A model for university support of beginning teachers in local schools. (To save as a Word document use the link above)
New Teacher Program (General Education Cohorts)
The New Teacher Program has been a prolific component of the IPLP. Faculty members from Northeastern Illinois University (Chicago Teachers’ Center, College of Arts and Sciences, and College of Education, Wright City College and Truman City College) have partnered to coordinate and team teach courses for incoming cohorts of students who have self-identified as being interested in becoming educators. These collaborations have extended beyond the university to area schools to develop clinical experiences for the cohort students.
Initial goals were to model teacher collaboration through the development of learning communities, enabling students to see the cross-disciplinary integration of skills and content within one class. These efforts had multiple purposes for teachers and students. The teachers aimed to 1) develop community through faculty retreats and workshops; and 2) link curricula in their teaching. For the students, the intent was to 3) build community among students; 4) work with area schools to provide early clinical experiences in order to help students decide about a career in education; 5) promote critical thinking, including fluency; and 6) teach about high need schools and diversity. Five cohorts have been established (1 junior, 2 sophomore, and 2 freshman). A third class hour was initiated for freshmen and sophomore cohorts to provide the opportunity to come together for a common experience. Students have been placed in schools for observations and, recently, for work experience.
Data collected from teachers have included: meeting notes and agenda, teachers journals, workshop evaluations, questionnaires (“Excellence in Education” and 8-Question forms), videotapes of debriefing sessions. Data collected from students have included: entry and exit surveys, copies of student writing (e.g., observation reports, theme papers, journals), Web Board discussions, examinations, information on GPA, credits completed, and retention, teacher and course evaluations.
Future directions for the New Teacher Program include conducting focus groups with students, obtaining more GPA and retention data for comparison (IPLP versus non-IPLP), and interviewing students and teachers about their participation, roles, and effectiveness in the IPLP, as well as continued efforts to institutionalize learning communities into the fabric of Northeastern Illinois University.
Having participated in team building workshops appears to have benefited some faculty in their efforts to build community. Similarly, initial partnerships were subdivided to provide mentoring experiences for new partner teachers. These partnerships enabled faculty to link syllabi, disciplines, and extend their experiences to local schools.
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