Standards for Beginning Educator Induction

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The Standards for Beginning Educator Induction document is a tool for program reflection, evaluation and improvement. Schools and districts can begin integrating the essential components (hiring, orientation, mentoring, professional learning, formative assessment for educator growth, and induction program impact) into the context of their current efforts to promote all educators' growth.

Standards for High-Quality Induction

Hiring

District and building leaders analyze employment needs, provide an information-rich recruiting and selection process, and use shared decision-making to place teachers in optimal assignments appropriate to their experience and students’ needs.

Orientation

Beginning educators participate in an instructional orientation before their teaching responsibilities begin and continuing throughout the year.

Mentoring

Carefully selected, well trained mentors form learning-focused relationships with beginning educators in order to facilitate maximum teacher and student growth.

Professional Learning

Beginning educators have opportunities to engage in intentional, coordinated, and sustained formal and informal job-embedded learning that promotes professional growth, reflection, collaboration, and equitable learning opportunities for students in their classrooms.

Feedback and Formative Assessment for Educator Growth

Beginning educators receive regular, written formative feedback connected to the state’s teacher evaluation system from mentors and evaluators before their summative and final evaluations. Formative assessments and feedback seek to promote teacher growth and development focused on student learning.

Induction Program Assessment

Stakeholders, including district and building leaders, review induction program implementation and impact data to collaboratively plan for program improvement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why invest in induction?

Research conducted by a team from the University of Washington “found that beginning teachers in BEST-funded districts that met standards for a full-fledged induction program had statistically significantly lower rates of exiting the Washington teaching workforce one year later than beginning teachers in other districts” (Plecki, Elfers, & Van Windekens, 2017). In other research, “although participation in a teacher induction program was consistently correlated with increased teacher retention and student achievement, the strength of the correlation was highly dependent on the extent and intensity of the particular induction program” (Ingersoll & Strong, 2011). Educational leaders across Washington recognize the critical importance of providing comprehensive induction that is sustained and purposeful professional support for our teaching forces, especially for educators in the early years of their profession.

We believe that doing so will:

  • Reduce teacher turnover
  • Improve teacher quality for student learning
  • Ensure equity of learning opportunity for all students
  • Help build a diverse teaching force
What is high-quality induction?

High-quality induction moves beyond offering a summer orientation and mentoring that is dependent on the generosity of beginning educators’ colleagues. It provides ongoing, job-embedded professional learning and support. Part of a carefully articulated system, comprehensive induction addresses hiring, orientation, mentoring, professional learning, feedback and formative assessment for educator growth, and induction program assessment. When well developed, it supports novice teachers to meet the specific learning needs of students in their classrooms.

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