A successful induction into the teaching profession: for the new career and technical education teacher, a teacher induction program and peer mentoring can make the first year a much more positive experience.

The teacher most likely to leave the profession is the new teacher, according to much of the latest research. A recent report on research into teacher recruitment and retention by the Education Commission of the States (ECS) notes that teacher attrition is most severe among teachers who have been in the classroom for only four to five years. Other statistics reported by ECS that are of interest to career and technical education (CTE) teachers: attrition is greater among middle school and high school teachers than among elementary school teachers, but retention rates of alternative-route teachers are comparable to--or may even exceed--those of teachers who entered the profession through traditional preparation programs.

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There is some evidence to suggest, however, that teacher induction and mentoring programs can play a role in keeping new teachers in the profession by assisting them in navigating what can sometimes be the rough waters of their first years of teaching.

Helping New Teachers in Missouri

The Missouri Center for Career Education (MCCE) has established teacher support systems intended to help new teachers succeed. These include the New Teacher Institute (NTI) and a two-year induction program that includes mentoring for the new teacher. NTI has been in existence for more than 40 years and is designed to be a sort of teacher boot camp. it helps mostly individuals who are coming to the teaching profession from business and industry--and do not have a BS degree in teacher education--to become better prepared to teach in the classroom.

As a yearlong comprehensive professional development program, NTI has three main goals: to develop the pedagogical skills of new CTE teachers: to identify resources to support new CTE teachers; and to establish a support network for new CTE teachers. While most of those attending NTI will be teaching health occupations or trade and industrial education, the rest may be teachers in any other CTE area. The purpose el NTI is to teach then? to be hotter teachers no matter what their content area.

Support Through Mentoring

The newer element of the Missouri induction program is the reentering aspect. It was added when the Missouri Department o[ Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) awarded a grant in 2003 to the University of Central Missouri (UCM) to establish MCCE. The center is located within the College of Education, Department of Career and Technology Education at UCM in Warrensburg.

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The Missouri Career Education Mentoring Program pairs experienced teachers with new teachers. The mentor and protege. work together throughout the school year. While NTI puts new teachers from various areas of CTE together, the reentering program pairs those in the same content areas. There are also content experts for the different fields of CTE. For example, Lori Cochran, the director of NTI, also serves as one of the trade and industrial content experts. The content experts facilitate delivery of the program and the content, and oversee the mentors and new teachers to make sure they are successfully completing the structured experiences. The content experts also serve as liaisons between DESE and the reentering team.

The first-year experiences focus on program standards for student achievement. A list of sample experiences is provided, but the mentor and protege may also design their own. The reentering team creates an action plan for the year, and the plan may be revised during the year to reflect the new teacher's progress and growth, but the changes must be shared with the content expert. A checklist is made at the first meeting of fine reentering team to help establish structure. A planning calendar is also provided to the reentering team to help them keep track of their target dates and work to be completed during the year.

An on-site visit may be made during the school year, with a report completed by the person making the visit. In the spring, an online evaluation form is sent to all participants, and this form is completed and submitted to MCCE.

The second year of the program focuses more on improving instruction, enhancing professionalism, and refining activities begun in the first year. The second year a)so includes independent experiences that relate to the new teacher's content area program standards.

Helping Ease the Burden

For teachers coming to the classroom from industry, the first few years can be an overwhelming experience. Missouri is one of the states that has made the teaching certification requirements much more rigorous. Changes made two years ago mean these teachers may have to take six college courses during their first three years of teaching. Rather than making a reentering program seem like just one more thing to acid to their workload, MCCE tries to integrate it with their college courses in the hopes that the support and guidance the new teachers receive will make it easier for them and not add to their burden.

While MCCE provides the materials and the support staff, the true success el the reentering program depends upon the relationship between the new teacher and the mentor. There must be open, continuous two-way communication between the pair, and they must both be completely invested in the success of the new teacher. The mentor provides the advice, information and emotional support, but the new teacher must play an active role in ensuring his or her own growth and future success in the classroom.

While teaching may be a new career and a whole new experience for these business and industry transplants, many of them have been a source at amazement for the MCCE staff. When the experienced educators see a new teacher with a natural ability Jar teaching and a dedication to the success of the students, they know they must do everything they can to keep that teacher in the classroom. NTI and the Career Education Mentoring Program are two of the ways they are working to do just that.

Lori Cochran is the director of the New Teacher Institute at the Missouri Center for Career Education. She con be contacted at [e-mail].

Susan Reese is a Techniques contributing writer. She can be contacted at [e-mail].