NCTAF/GSU Induction Project

NCTAF/Georgia State University Induction Project

Sponsored by the Wachovia Foundation

View the Final Report, August 2008

The NCTAF/Georgia State University Induction Project provided support to beginning teachers serving in low-income and high-minority schools in four districts in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The project’s goal was to improve student achievement in the Atlanta area by enhancing the quality of new teachers entering high-need schools and by increasing the likelihood that they will stay in their teaching assignments and become skilled teachers.  As indicated in the final evaluation report these goals were successfully met.  Although the three-year project funded by the Wachovia Foundation Teachers and Teaching Initiative ended in June, 2008, many of the activities developed under the grant are continuing, thanks to the enthusiasm of project partners and wide dissemination of key components and lessons learned.

The project partners under the Wachovia grant were the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF), Georgia State University (GSU), the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG), the Georgia Systemic Teacher Education Program (GSTEP), and four Atlanta-area school districts (Atlanta Public Schools, DeKalb County Schools, Fulton County Schools, and Gwinnett County Schools).

To view a recent presentation on this project, click here.

PROJECT DESIGN

The project was designed around the Georgia Framework for Teaching, now adopted as the state’s definition of quality teaching by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission, the Georgia Department of Education, and the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia. The Framework defines the knowledge, skills, and other attributes of accomplished teaching in six areas:

1. content and curriculum;
2. knowledge of students;
3. classroom environments;
4. assessment;
5. planning and instruction; and
6. professionalism. 

The Framework is introduced to teacher candidates during their preparation program. It can be used by experienced teachers and faculty to observe and support beginning teachers, and by all teachers to self-assess their growth as professionals. The partners in this project developed and tested three resources, aligned with the Georgia Framework, to ascertain their usefulness in supporting new teachers as they grow from novices to experienced career professionals. These resources are described below.

• Cross-Career Learning Communities (CCLCs).  CCLCs provide both face-to-face and online support and dialogue for pre-service, new, and experienced/mentor teachers, as well as university faculty supervisors. In this project, CCLC members utilized the Critical Friends Group model (developed by the National School Reform Faculty) to support the new teachers and to grow in the knowledge and skills identified by the Georgia Framework for Teaching. Over the course of the grant, 150 CCLC facilitators (experienced teachers) were trained on the protocol developed for Critical Friends Groups.  There were over 50 CCLC groups active over the course of the project, involving over 440 educators.  Thirty nine administrators also attend three workshops for principals.

• The BRIDGE.  Building Resources: Induction and Development for Georgia Educators (BRIDGE) is a peer-reviewed and interactive online resource and mentoring site for teachers. On the BRIDGE, participants can find peer-reviewed lessons, articles, and websites submitted by teachers in response to other teachers’ questions about knowledge and skills identified in the Framework as well as space to meet in their learning communities utilizing the Critical Friends Group protocols. By year three of the grant, the GSU/NCTAF CCLC Community had 221 members registered on the BRIDGE.  They visited the BRIDGE 1226 times, searching for 1,559 resources, during the 2007-08 school year.  In addition,  29 CCLC groups were created in the online learning communities section of the BRIDGE as a vehicle for continued conversations.  Ten online meetings were held during the last year of the project.

• Professional Growth Plan.  This observation and self-assessment tool provides a process for pre-service and beginning teachers to reflect on their knowledge and skills in order to continuously grow as professional educators. It offers a modified version of the Extended Georgia Framework for Teaching, Modified that provides six domains (Content/Curriculum, Knowledge of Students, Learning Environments, Assessment, Planning/Instruction, and Professionalism) and indicators that define the realm of quality teaching. The indicators are arranged in four proficiency levels (Basic, Advanced, Accomplished, and Exemplary) that describe where educators might be at any point across their careers, adding challenge and complexity at each level. It allows university faculty, cooperating teachers, new teachers, and their mentors to document evidence of professional growth as well as areas where additional improvements can be made, based on knowledge and skills identified in the Georgia Framework.   Throughout the project, CCLC participants tested and refined the PGP.  The final version was completed in year three of the project, with 5,000 copies distributed to all trained facilitators and their CCLC members, all Atlanta metro area superintendents, groups of educators throughout Georgia, and attendees at national conferences.

Summary of Project Results

An evaluation was conducted each year of the project.  Outcomes for year three of the project focused on the project’s four long-term objectives:

1. Create learning communities and improve teacher satisfaction in high-needs schools

• The active use of CCLCs across all sites indicated great support of focused opportunities for teachers to work together around teaching issues of concern to them.  During the fall and spring of Year 3, there were 17 active CCLC groups with 258 members including 29 new teachers. Overall average participation in the CCLC meetings was 66.28% of members.
• At the end of Year 3 of the project, 97% of respondents agreed that involvement in a Cross Career Learning Community contributed to a collegial and supportive environment in their school.  School climate overall was viewed positively by the CCLC members.  
• Use of the BRIDGE grew substantially in year 3, rising from 23% of the CCLC members in the fall of 2007 to 51% in the spring of 2008.  Use of the Learning Communities on the BRIDGE rose from 68% to 77% of CCLC members.

2. Increase retention rate of teachers in high-need schools, especially of new teachers. 

• The retention rate for new teachers in CCLC groups across all participating districts was 93%, a statistically significant higher rate than the 63% retention of new teachers in two of the participating districts prior to the start of the project. (Baseline new teacher retention data for the other two districts was not available).
• The retention rate of all project teachers returning for the 2008-2009 school year is 89%, much higher than the retention rates for these districts overall.

3. Improve quality of teacher skills in high-need schools.

Teacher skills were examined by looking at teacher portfolios. The work samples from the four districts were evaluated based on the Georgia Framework for Accomplished Teaching. Districts provided teacher artifacts with any corresponding student artifacts that exemplified these domains, and reviewers analyzed each artifact to evaluate whether the work samples evidenced skill in each domain.

• The reviewers found that submissions for the final year (2007-08) far exceeded the baseline year in depth and in scope of those of 2006-07. 
• Reviewers indicated more differentiated samples were submitted in that year, indicating an array of levels and subjects (i.e., cross cultural expectations, gifted instruction, advanced algebra/trigonometry, etc.). 
• The student work samples reflected teachers’ expectations of best practices and research-based strategies and interventions as required by Georgia Performance Standards and No Child Left Behind. 
• Teachers’ instructional plans and materials exemplified data-driven monitoring practices and a variety of assessments to instruct, remediate, and enrich students.

4. Increase K-12 student achievement and school performance in high-needs schools

Statewide testing results of students in each of the 12 treatment and 12 comparison schools were reported in detail in the full evaluation report. Elementary and middle school results were reported by grade level and subject using the Georgia Criterion Referenced Tests.  High school results were reported for the High School Graduation Tests and for End-of-Course Tests. 

• In the data for the last year, the treatment elementary school pass rate had been lower than the pass rate for the comparison schools in every subject in every grade.   In the final year’s data, the treatment schools pass rate was higher than the comparison schools pass rate in five of the 21 tests.  This difference, (higher pass rates in 5 of the 21 tests listed as opposed to none of the 21 tests the previous year) is statistically significant  (z=2.38,  p<.009).
• In middle schools, the passing rates for treatment schools were higher than the passing rates in comparison schools for 13 of the 13 tests reported.  This continues the same pattern from the previous year.
• In high schools, the passing rates were higher for treatment schools for two of the five graduation tests and were also higher in 2 of the 7 End-of-Course Tests.  This contrasts with the previous year results where the treatment school passing rates were lower for each of the High School Graduation Tests and lower in seven out of eight End-of-Course Tests.  However the increase for the final year is not statistically significant (z = 1.508, p=.066)

Summary

Overall the project was considered successful in building a new model for supporting teacher learning and growth.  The CCLCs are perceived as useful and helpful in creating a positive environment for teachers. The Professional Growth Plan based on the Extended Georgia Framework for Teaching, Modified is used by many teachers as a tool for reflection and setting goals for improvement. The BRIDGE is becoming recognized not only as a source for teaching resources but also as a suitable space for teachers to meet and continue to collaborate.  Educators who participate in CCLC groups believe that the CCLCs are contributing to a collegial and supportive environment, which is reflected in greater rates of teacher retention.  Providing a more collegial, stable teaching environment is a key factor in meeting the project’s ultimate goal: better academic achievement for the students in high need schools.