Preparation and Support for Teachers in Public Schools: Reflections on the First Year of Teaching

Details:

• Resource Type: Brief
• Estimated time: 1 team session

Purpose:

Engage with this resource to consider what the most important supports are for first-year teachers in your context.

This U.S. Department of Education Statistics in Brief investigates early-career teachers’ preparation for teaching and receipt of support by selected characteristics of the schools in which they taught during their first year in the profession.

Directions:   

1. Invite team members to read the brief.
2. Convene the team and invite members to consider the reflection questions here to generate discussion and broaden your understanding of how to strengthen supports for new teachers.

Reflection Questions:

1. If you are a school district, consider these questions:
   1. How do the findings of this brief influence your thinking about what the most important supports are for first-year teachers?
   2. How does the context in which you support early career teachers currently impact how you support them?
   3. What are the types of supports you provide first-year teachers?
2. If you are an educator preparation program or educational organization that supports pre-service teachers, consider these questions:
   1. What role do you or can you play in helping teacher candidates understand the relationship between their self-perceptions of preparedness and the community type they are working in?
   2. What do you see as the value in exploring this phenomenon with teacher candidates?

1. Identify any action steps related to first-year teacher supports your team will take to develop or refine what is currently in place.
2. Examine the remaining resources in this entry point based on recruitment and retention practice gaps you discovered as a result of your team sessions.