BEGINNING SUPPORT AND ASSESSMENT INDUCTION
PROGRAM
For K-3 Teachers of Language Minority Students
- In response to the Bank of America Foundation call for the professional
development of new K-3 teachers resulting from California's class size
reduction, the USC Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research has
developed a Beginning Support and Assessment Induction Program for K-3
Teachers of Language Minority Students. The program focuses on
beginning teachers with an emphasis on language, math, reading, and
diversity. We have also launched our Clearinghouse for Beginning
Teacher Support and Assessment Resources.
- Supported by a $1 MILLION grant from the Bank of America, program
organizers have pledged to track participants for two full years (with
another six months to one year if needed), providing monthly meetings
where veteran and beginning teachers receive guidance from experts on
problems they've encountered along the way. Even the most generous
induction programs track participants for only one year mostly for
bookkeeping purposes.
- The School of Education is building upon the work of California's
Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Network, the California
Standards for the Teaching Profession, the Standards of Quality and
Effectiveness for Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Programs,
and standards that frame California B-CLAD credential requirements. The
induction program targets new K-3 teachers and paraeducators working
with the new teachers, and mentors.
- The project includes five days of training and two additional days of
reflection for "support providers" and provides for as many as 60 days'
worth of substitute teachers per school, freeing both veteran and
beginning teachers to occasionally study each other's techniques and
attend workshops, demonstrations and lectures.
- The program is designed not just to prepare beginning teachers for a
permanent teaching credential but to make them dramatically better
teachers. The support providers, meanwhile, can become certified to
train other support providers, thus ensuring that the program is self
perpetuating. Support providers will be targeted to participate in
training for National Board Certification one of the teachiang
profession's highest honors. Perhaps most important, the program will
gradually improve each of the participating schools.
- The induction program is part of a partnership with the Los Angeles
Annenberg Metropolitan Plan (a countywide school reform effort) and
California State University, Los Angeles.
- This is a three-year project housed in the Center for Multilingual
Multicultural Research at the University of Southern California. Dr.
Reynaldo Baca, Co-Director of the Center and Director of USC's Latino and
Language Minority Teacher Projects, is the Principal Investigator for
this generous grant from the Bank of America Foundation.
- To learn more about this exciting program read the University of
Southern California Chronicle article, "Helping Newest Teachers Learn
the Ropes".
Reynaldo Baca, director of the USC Rossier School of Education's Language
Minority Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Project, works with
veteran teachers who will provide support to beginning bilingual education
teachers. The program is aimed at schools that received waivers from Prop.
227's English-only mandate.
For further information contact:
University of Southern California
School of Education
Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research
Waite Phillips Hall Suite 402
Los Angeles, California 90089-0031
Phone: (213) 740-2360
FAX: (740-7101)
e-mail: rbaca@rcf.usc.edu
NEW !!! NEW !!! NEW !!!
CENTER FOR MULTILINGUAL, MULTICULTURAL
RESEARCH
CLEARINGHOUSE FOR BTSA RESOURCES
Copyright © 1999 by Michael Genzuk. All rights reserved.
