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Teachers need teachers, new report notes More help needed, local districts agree By VICKI GUARINO As educators begin preparing for the arrival of students and the start of a new school year, a new national report urges schools to do more to train and coach teachers. Without on-the-job assistance, a high percentage of new teachers will leave the profession, according to a nonprofit educational research group, Recruiting New Teachers Inc. Nationally, more than 20 percent of public school teachers quit within three years, and 9.3 percent leave before the end of their first year. The departure of young teachers from the profession will only worsen the effects of a teacher shortage. According to the report released this week, Oregon is among 25 states that have no standardized new-teacher training program or policy. That leaves administrators in individual school districts to decide how and how much to help young, new staffers. Jackson County's three largest districts tackle the need in different ways, but agree that more assistance would better -- for teachers and for students. The Medford School District, with the county's biggest budget, has developed a two-year program based on national models, and using nationally known teacher educators. "We'd like to add a third year," says Medford secondary education director Dan Zaklan. The additional year would be devoted to the additional education demands of Oregon school reform measures and the high school Certificate of Initial Mastery requirements. The program includes key elements noted by Recruiting New Teachers Inc. The organization recommends so-called "induction" programs. Unlike some other teacher training routines, induction programs allow rookie instructors to observe and consult with experienced teachers on matters such as setting up their classrooms, filling out attendance forms and preparing their students for standardized tests. Mentors in Medford schools work on two distinct but inseparable skills, Zaklan says: behavior management and instruction. "Before you can get good instruction, you have to have the class under control," Zaklan says. Success, he adds, is a matter of technique. "If you do the right things, neither one is difficult." All new Medford teachers go through induction, regardless of how long they might have been teaching elsewhere. And veteran Medford teachers come out for sessions like one held last summer featuring an internationally recognized teacher and author, Harry Wong. Several teachers outside Medford took up the district's invitation to hear Wong, paying $20 to attend the session. The fee points up the most severe limitation to training that local districts face -- funding. Central Point personnel director Randy Gravon says he envies Medford's large budget because the larger district has more financial flexibility for training. Central Point relies on experienced teachers to volunteer for its mentoring program. Because of time and funding limits, however, the program is not as extensive as it could be, Gravon says. The Eagle Point district also relies on teacher volunteers, but teachers shoulder considerable administrative responsibility, says Superintendent Bill Jones. The district uses teams of teachers to represent the district at job fairs, screen job candidates and make hiring decisions. In that process, these teachers make commitments to help the new teachers they hire. Across the country, the quality of districts' induction programs' ranged from "comprehensive to cursory," said Elizabeth F. Fideler, vice president of Recruiting New Teachers and the report's co-author. "What new teachers experience is in stark contrast to the experiences of medical residents, law associates and even rookie baseball players." And only 17 states pay for new-teacher induction. Oregon ceased its direct funding for such programs several years ago. Teacher retention is especially important these days. The Education Department estimates the nation's schools will need to hire 200,000 new K-12 teachers a year to ease shortages due to rising student enrollments and increasing teacher retirements. Jackson County schools likewise have been hiring record numbers of teachers. Unlike the national situation, however, local administrators say few of their teachers decide suddenly to leave the profession. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA