Introduction
The Metro Atlanta Beginning Teacher Induction and Support Consortium is a collaboration of Georgia State University, Atlanta Public Schools, DeKalb County Schools, Fulton County Schools, and Gwinnett County Schools. The foundation for the program is based on professional and state standards for teachers and students. The standards provide focus for the consortium, especially in success for teachers in bringing all students to high levels of achievement. INTASC standards and the state Quality Core Curriculum are standards that inform the work.
The Consortium developed an induction program for Georgia State University to complement what the schools do. The Georgia State University Induction Program has support components and professional development components. The Georgia State University program involves Georgia State University faculty directly with beginning teachers, another unique element to the work of this Consortium. Three major support components are:
(2) group contact with beginning teachers and mentors; and
(3) web contact with beginning teachers and mentors.
Personal Contact
In the first component, personal contact, each teacher education program will designate a contact person (who also is the steering committee member) for its graduates. This person is available for e-mail and telephone contact about any problem a beginning teacher is experiencing. The contact person provides whatever help seems appropriate which includes putting the teacher in contact with another Georgia State University faculty and visiting the classroom of the teacher. Mentors and administrators also are given information about the Georgia State University program and also can ask for support or provide suggestions for improvements in the program.
Group Contact
Georgia State University Induction Program group contact is through seminars for graduates. The topics are determined according to assessed needs of beginning teachers. Seminars can be conducted for all beginning teachers in a school system, if requested. Seminars also can be conducted for mentors, administrators, and schools, as possible and as requested. All seminars are developed around the community theme, that teaching is participation in a learning community and that beginning teachers should be provided and use all the resources of the community.
Web Contact
The purpose for the technology component is to provide an additional dimension of access to resources, support from experts and colleagues, and as a clearinghouse for sharing information. Through technology, project participants can access resources on induction at their convenience and can be linked to a network of mentors, to experts at Georgia State University, and to other beginning teachers who are in their discipline. The technology resources are another dimension of community, providing cognitive resources to as well or social and emotional support for beginning teachers. The technology infrastructure consists of two parts: a public website that provides information and support about induction and a password protected website that provides beginning teachers with personal information and support through chat rooms, threaded discussion sites, and specialized links to resources. The ‘open to the public’ website (http://education.gsu.edu/induction) provides information and links to resources for effective teaching, mentoring, and model induction programs. This site is available to beginning teachers, mentors, and anyone interested in information and links to teaching and learning in K-12 settings. The site also provides links to each of the Metro school systems participating in the project, links to professional organizations, and links to the resources of the Georgia Department of Education. From the public site, participants in the induction program can access the password protected WebCT site. This site, the “Virtual Teachers’ Lounge”, has been developed that will permit access to information, sharing ideas, asking for help, and storing documents related to the project within a limited access site. The WebCT site also offers chat rooms that will be scheduled for synchronous interactions related to topics chosen by the beginning teachers For example, on Tuesday at 7 p.m. an expert on working with parents might lead a discussion designed to prepare beginning teachers for upcoming parent teacher conferences. Or, in some occasions, the beginning teachers may decide to have a discussion on certain issues without the experts. For other topics, the threaded discussion site is available to provide an asynchronous opportunity to ask questions, raise concerns, or share information or successes. Because WebCT is password protected, the questions and comments of the participants are accessible only to those in the induction project.
GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY
BEGINNING TEACHER SUPPORT PROGRAM
The GSU Support Program is for you, the GSU teacher education graduate. We want your first experiences as a teacher to be as positive as possible, so we are providing a network of support for you during this time.
The contact people/induction steering committee members are:
You may contact any of these people for support. For general inquiries or suggestions about the induction program and/or seminar topics, contact Gwen Benson, Associate Dean, College of Education, gbenson@gsu.edu.
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