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"Unquestionably, we need to do more to attract high quality teachers. While recruiting good candidates to become teachers is an important issue, retaining good teachers once they enter the field is equally important."
Gov. Mark Warner, Virginia
Teacher recruitment is at a critical stage as districts face a growing shortage in the education employment market. Across the nation, personnel departments in isolated rural enclaves and inner cities compete for qualified applicants in hard-to-fill positions.
Study after study confirms that mentoring programs, sound teaching resources and pedagogical support all contribute to new teacher success. To stay in the classroom, teachers need a sense of 'connectedness' to their school and community.
There are many factors that can enhance a new teacher's transition to the classroom, but none like learning from the veterans. In fact, working and collaborating with experienced teachers is an often overlooked but key component in new teacher training. According to the Department of Education's "Survival Guide for New Teachers," first year teachers can learn a lot from those who've "been there."
Forty percent of public school teachers plan to exit the profession within five years, the highest rate since at least 1990; the rate is expected to be even greater among high school teachers, half of whom plan to be out of teaching by 2010, according to a national survey of K-12 public school teachers conducted by the National Center for Education Information.
The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future is calling on states, districts, and higher education institutions to offer formal teacher-induction programs that last for years and offer more than just individual mentoring...
By the end of the school year, every teacher of every major subject in every school will be highly qualified. That's the government's promise, anyway...
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