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Teacher Induction and Mentoring

Section 504.6 | Board Report 21-1117-PO1 | Date Adopted November 17, 2021

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THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER RECOMMENDS:

The Chicago Board of Education (“Board”) rescind Board Report 04-0825-PO1 New Teacher Induction Policy and adopt a New Teacher Induction and Mentoring Policy. The policy was posted for public comment from August 16, 2021 to September 16, 2021.

PURPOSE:

The New Teacher Induction Policy addresses the need for a multi-level induction program to provide new teacher employees with appropriate support and information to maximize the effectiveness of their teaching performance, to raise student achievement levels, and to increase retention of high-quality teachers across the district.

POLICY TEXT:

I. Definitions:

New Teacher: Any teacher hired for the first time in the district.

New Teacher Induction: Programming, support, and professional learning for new teachers starting as early as their pre-service years and continuing through the first two years of teaching in the district.

School-Based Induction: School conditions and structures in individual school buildings that provide induction support for new teachers. The conditions and structures may include alignment to school vision and goals, strong climate and culture, new teacher professional learning, progress monitoring, and mentor development and support.

New Teacher Mentor: A current CPS teacher, who holds an additional role as a new teacher mentor to provide cycles of support to individual new teachers focused on the CPS New Teacher Induction and Mentoring foci.

Pre-Service Teacher: Future teacher working toward their certification while student teaching in the district with a veteran CPS teacher.

Culturally Responsive Education: In alignment with Illinois State Board of Education Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading Standards, Culturally Responsive Teachers and Leaders:

  • are reflective and gain a deeper understanding of themselves and how they impact others, leading to more cohesive and productive student development as it relates to academic and social-emotional development for all students;
  • understand that there are systems in our society that create and reinforce inequities, thereby creating oppressive conditions. Educators work actively against these systems in their everyday roles in educational institutions;
  • view and value their students as individuals within the context of their families and communities;
  • (who fundamentally believe all students are capable) center learning around students’ experiences and position them as co-creators, with emphasis on prioritizing historically marginalized students;
  • will partner with families and communities to build rapport, form collaborative and mutual relationships, and engage in effective cross-cultural communication;
  • intentionally embrace student identities and prioritize representation in the curriculum. In turn, students are not only given a chance to identify with the curriculum, they become exposed to other cultures within their schools and both their local and global communities;
  • ensure the diversity of their student population is equally represented within the learning environment. In turn, all members of the student population feel seen, heard, and affirmed. Exceptionally well-versed culturally responsive teachers and leaders provide exposure to under or misrepresented minority groups even when they are not present within the population of their school and community at large.

Diversity: Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, and it encompasses all the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. A broad definition includes not only race, ethnicity, and gender — the groups that most often come to mind when the term "diversity" is used — but also age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, and physical appearance. It also involves different ideas, perspectives, and values (The University of California Berkeley Strategic Plan for Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity, Pathway to Excellence, 2009).

Inclusive Partnerships: Inclusive Partnerships value and prioritize the diverse voices of students, families, caregivers, and communities when making decisions that affect their lived experiences. This relationship requires the people and institutions who hold power to account for past inequities and to create conditions for healing and co-design an equitable future. CPS prioritizes three key stakeholder groups: people with institutional or historical memory, people most impacted by inequity, and people responsible for implementing and driving change (CPS Equity Framework 2020).

External Induction Partners: External partners who play a role in supporting new teachers. Non-CPS Induction partners may include Educator Preparation Programs, National Coaching/Mentoring Organizations, funders, and more.

II. Induction and Mentoring Programs:

The Induction and Mentoring programs and supports must be offered District-wide, at the school level, and at the individual level.

  • Level 1: District-Wide New Teacher Induction Program:
    The Office of Teaching and Learning must provide a minimum of 30 hours of district-wide professional learning opportunities for all pre-service teachers, first year teachers, and second year teachers.
    1. New Teacher Orientation: Before the start of each school year, CPS New Teacher Orientation professional learning must include:
      • Foundational Learning for all new teachers that focuses on the most relevant CPS initiatives including social and emotional learning, culturally responsive education, teacher evaluation and instructional frameworks, inclusive practices, English language programs introduction, and CPS systems.
      • Role-Specific professional learning for all new teachers that includes an overview of content-specific standards, instructional priorities, student achievement goals, and available resources.
      • Purposeful cross-district collaboration that focuses on teacher identity and implicit bias and connects new teachers with each other, teacher leaders, school networks, district representatives, community members, and students.
    2. New Teacher Year-Long Professional Learning and Mentoring: During each school year, ongoing foundational professional learning opportunities must be available for all CPS pre-service teachers, first year teachers, and second year teachers. This professional learning must include:
      • Professional learning opportunities available to all CPS pre-service teachers that includes a scope and sequence aligned to key components of CPS Induction to ensure CPS readiness for pre-service teachers. This professional learning must include CPS instructional practice frameworks, Equity framework, social and emotional learning, and hiring support.
      • Professional learning for all new teachers that includes a scope and sequence aligned to key components of CPS instructional practice frameworks, Equity framework, social and emotional learning, and the research-based phases of the first year.
      • Grade/content-specific professional learning options for new teachers to apply foundational learning within their specific grade and content teaching role.
      • Professional learning for all second year teachers that includes a scope and sequence aligned to key components of CPS instructional practice frameworks, equity framework, and social and emotional learning.
      • Purposeful cross-district collaboration that connects new teachers with each other, teacher leaders, school networks, district representatives, community members, and students.
      • Providing a grade/content alike mentor to any interested new-to-CPS mentor during their first year in CPS.
    3. New Teacher Communication: Consistent new teacher resources and communication must be available for all new teachers each summer and school year. New teacher-specific resources and communication must include:
      • Annually revised New Teacher Guidebook.
      • New Teacher-specific calendar of professional learning opportunities.
      • District-wide updates through monthly communications.
  • Level 2: School-Based Induction Program:
    The Office of Teaching and Learning must provide professional learning opportunities, support, and resources for Principals or designees to build school-based Induction programs.
    1. Principal or Designee Professional Learning: Prior to the start of each school year, differentiated School-Based Induction professional learning opportunities must be available.
    2. School-Based Induction Standards: The Office of Teaching and Learning must provide principals or designees with current CPS Induction Standards.
    3. Coaching for School-Based Induction: The Office of Teaching and Learning can provide school level supports when:
      • The school satisfies criteria that are developed by the Office of Teaching and Learning and the Equity Office. The criteria should include targeting schools to ensure equity of resources such as additional supports to schools with high attrition, prioritized groups of teachers including those from the CPS Residency program, and alignment to school-level CIWP goals.
      • The school commits to collaboration with the Office of Teaching and Learning.
  • Level 3: Individual New Teacher Support:
    The Office of Teaching and Learning must support schools in providing in-school mentoring opportunities for new teachers for their first two years in the district with a particular focus increasing the diversity of the mentorship program by increased recruitment in underserved school communities as defined by the Office of Equity.
    1. New Teacher Mentor Selection and Pairing: Principals or their designee must follow the CPS mentor selection requirements to select in-school mentors, pair them appropriately with new teachers, and set conditions for mentors to meet CPS mentor programming expectations.
    2. New Teacher Mentor Expectations: CPS expectations of in-school mentors funded by the district include that they engage in required professional learning, submit mentor planning documents, monitor progress of new teacher development, and support new teachers using the mentor requirements.
    3. New Teacher Mentor Professional Learning and Support: The Office of Teaching and Learning must provide mentor professional learning to school-based mentors.
      • Mentor professional learning must focus on current CPS mentor competencies, following cycles of support to ensure reflective practice of new teachers, the current CPS equity framework and culturally responsive education, and targeted support for mentor and new teachers’ needs.

III. Alignment to Local and State Induction and Mentoring Priorities and Standards:

The Office of Teaching and Learning must align all Induction and Mentoring activities with district and state priorities, policies, and standards.

  • CPS Priorities Alignment: The Office of Teaching and Learning must align all Induction and Mentoring with the following:
    1. CPS Instructional Practice Frameworks: In all Induction and Mentoring activities, the district must use the most relevant CPS definition and guidance for effective teaching and learning.
    2. CPS Equity Framework: In all Induction and Mentoring activities, the district must use the most relevant CPS definition and guidance for educational equity.
    3. CPS Mission and Vision: In all Induction and Mentoring activities, the District must use the most relevant CPS mission, vision, and values.
  • State Priorities Alignment: CPS must align all Induction and Mentoring around the most current Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) Induction and Mentoring policies and standards.

IV. Cross-District and Community Engagement and Partnerships:

  • Engagement: The Office of Teaching and Learning should strive to inform all necessary stakeholders of district Induction and Mentoring programming and opportunities to build awareness for new teacher hires, teacher leaders, school leaders, and network and district leaders.
  • Partnerships: Any department internal to CPS or partner external to CPS who provides support to new teachers should:
    1. Share all new teacher support opportunities with the Office of Teaching and Learning so that it can be included in streamlined communication to new teachers.
    2. Build awareness and alignment across Induction programs that includes shared communication protocols, tracking systems, and progress monitoring systems.
    3. Align their programs and activities with CPS Induction and Mentoring and ISBE priorities in Section III above.

V. Continuous Improvement through Inclusive Partnerships:

The Office of Teaching and Learning must develop and implement a robust program evaluation and progress monitoring system in order to continually measure the Induction and Mentoring program’s impact and inform processes to continuously strengthen and evolve the District’s work. These processes must include inclusive partnerships as outlined in the CPS Equity Framework.

  • Program Evaluation: The Office of Teaching and Learning must develop surveys and program evaluation activities to measure the overall impact on school induction conditions and structures, new teacher retention, instructional practice, and student achievement. Surveys and related activities must be distributed to all new teachers, teacher leaders, students, and Principals involved in one or more of the induction levels.
  • Progress Monitoring System: The Office of Teaching and Learning must build a comprehensive progress monitoring system that continuously measures the impact of the Induction and Mentoring programming on new teacher retention, instructional practice, student achievement, and should continuously measure the impact of Induction and Mentoring programming on new teacher retention disaggregated by demographics, geographic distribution, and school characteristics stated in the CPS Equity Framework.
  • Adjustments and Improvements to Induction and Mentoring: The Office of Teaching and Learning must use program evaluation and progress monitoring systems to annually set goals, identify improvements and adjustments to District’s multi-level Induction and Mentoring Programs.
    1. Induction and Mentoring Design Collaboration: CPS may include cross-district departments and CPS partners such as Educational Preparation Partners to design iterations of induction and mentoring activities.
    2. Implement resource allocation that aligns to the processes for Inclusive Partnerships outlined in the CPS Equity Framework.

VI. Guidelines and Standards:

The Office of Teaching and Learning is authorized to issue guidelines and standards for the effective implementation of this Policy. At a minimum the Office of Teaching and Learning must issue the following standards:

  • CPS Induction Standards: The Office of Teaching and Learning must issue standards for new teacher induction consistent with Section III above.
  • CPS Mentor Selection Standards: The Office of Teaching and Learning must issue standards for mentor selection consistent with Section III above.

VII. Board Monitoring and Reporting:

The CEO or designee will provide to the Board an annual report that outlines the improvements and adjustments made in new teacher induction and mentoring programming identified to target disparities in teacher retention data by race, gender, other demographic subgroups, and distribution in the District.

Policy References

Amends/Rescinds Rescinds 04-0825-PO1
Cross References 03-1022-PO03; 02-0828-PO01; 00-1025-PO1; 99-1027-PO2; 70-470
Legal References Ill. Admin. Code tit. 23, §24.50 (2021)
Public Comment Pursuant to Board Rule 2-6 this Policy was subject to Public Comment from August 16, 2021 to September 16, 2021.

Policy Managed By Talent Office

773-553-HR4U (4748)

cpsnewteachers@cps.edu

42 W. Madison St.
Chicago, IL 60602