On the right course

Victoria Burgess expected to encounter bumps along the road in her first year of teaching in the Pittsburgh public schools--challenges that every newcomer encounters. But this novice teacher was fortunate. A professional development program that began before classes even started and continued throughout the school year helped make her journey a smooth ride.

Run by the Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers (PFT), the induction program, "Starting Out on the Right Track," helps new teachers survive their first day, week and year in the classroom--step by step. "The training introduced me to different instructional techniques that I could use in the classroom," Burgess says. "It also reminded me of some of the things that I was taught in college."

The Pittsburgh native also appreciated hearing from the school administrators who spoke at the orientation program for new teachers. "It's important to know what the administration expects of you," she says.

The Pittsburgh program is a collaborative effort between the union and the school district. "It's a win-win situation when the union and the district can work together to help prepare new teachers to work in our classrooms," says PFT vice president Mary Van Horn, who credits the orientation and ongoing professional development classes with helping to give new teachers "the keys for a successful first year."

Provided through the PFT's well-established Educational Research and Dissemination (ER&D) program, which Van Horn directs, the Pittsburgh program begins with two full days of orientation for the new teachers, followed by monthly workshops and classes. The focus is on helping the newcomers in areas such as classroom management and maintaining discipline.

Whereas the PFT has been conducting new teacher training for more than eight years, the Alliance of Dallas (Texas) Educators conducted its first training program for new teachers just this past August. The Dallas program, like its counterpart in Pittsburgh, was a cooperative venture between the union and the school district. The new teachers in Dallas, like their peers in Pennsylvania, took the research-based "Starting Out on the Right Track" training module developed by the AFT's ER&D program.

More than 800 new Dallas teachers participated in the alliance's summer training program, and 430 of them went on to become members of the union. ER&D has been both "a valuable service to Dallas teachers and the district and an excellent recruitment tool for the union," alliance president Harvey Hiscox says. It was Hiscox who approached the school district about co-sponsoring a training program for new teachers.

"This is an investment in our students in terms of ensuring that Dallas teachers have the tools they need to adequately address the educational needs of our kids," says Shirley Hawkins, executive director of the Dallas Independent School District's professional development programs.

Many teachers who opt out of the profession before reaching the five-year mark cite a lack of professional support as one of the chief reasons for leaving the classroom. Training programs for new teachers--like those offered through AFT locals in Pittsburgh and Dallas--are designed to remedy just that. Another intended benefit of the program is to help school districts retain a higher percentage of their new teachers.

Lovely Billups, co-director of the AFT's ER&D program, conducted the Dallas orientation sessions. New teachers, she points out, "frequently complain about the lack of training and support they receive during their first few years on the job."

Young teachers need to be nurtured and made to feel that they aren't alone, alliance vice president Aimee Bolender says. One of the logical first steps the Dallas union made was to call on seasoned teachers to assist in its efforts on behalf of the first-year educators, she says. "Our district's veteran teachers understand the challenges that new teachers are going to face and can help them develop strategies to deal with the frustrations that often go with being new in the classroom."

The Alliance of Dallas Educators offers follow-up sessions to the orientation throughout the fall and into the winter. These meetings give first-year teachers a chance to discuss their common concerns and afford ER&D trainers an opportunity to "talk in more detail about organizing a classroom and the best practices for changing student behavior," Bolender points out.

Maybe the most valuable aspect of PFT's training was hearing and learning from experienced teachers, Burgess says. "We had small-group sessions where seasoned teachers would talk to us about things like setting up our classroom, filling out different forms and what type of things we need to talk to parents about."

Burgess was so excited about the training opportunities, she signed up for the ER&D classes the union offers during the school year. "What impressed me most was the enthusiasm the union had for the training program," she says. "It showed me that they are genuinely concerned not only about educating students but teachers as well."

Burgess's enthusiasm for the ER&D program wasn't lost on Van Horn who encouraged the new third-grade teacher to become a trainer, which Burgess has decided to do. "I'm pretty good at communicating with my colleagues, and I felt that I could help others by sharing some of what I've learned through the [ER&D] program," Burgess says.

The ultimate goal of any professional development program, AFT's Billups says, is to arm teachers with the knowledge and skills they need to be effective educators.

"These sessions emphasize the need for new teachers to work hard at organizing and managing their classrooms in a way that fosters teaching and learning," Billups says, referring to last summer's training in Dallas.

The union-district collaboration sends "a very positive signal to teachers," says the Dallas district's Hawkins. "It shows that stakeholders who may have had an adversarial relationship in the past are willing to work together to help them be successful."

American Federation of Teachers, AFL•CIO - 555 New Jersey Avenue, NW - Washington, DC 20001