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New Teachers

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May 1, 1996

New Teachers

Table of Contents

Mentors, internships wave of future

Grant Pick

In recent years, the Board of Education has mandated extra help for new teachers, but it's just been more class time. Novices had to seek out a university course or staff development workshop, including one recently developed by the board called Focus on the Classroom. If they didn't pick a board offering, they had to pay the bill themselves.

This system, many experts contend, is wholly inadequate. "The first year teaching is extremely stressful," remarks Steve Tozer, an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "You have to master the curriculum in a system....

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City aims to hire 'best and brightest'

Grant Pick

Since the Chicago School Reform Act gave principals the authority to select their own teachers to fill vacancies, the School Board has held a job fair each summer. Principals would eyeball candidates in brief interviews, inviting those who made a good impression and had the right credentials back to their schools for more extensive conversations.

Now, the system's Department of Human Resources is experimenting with variations. One initiative involves a more sophisticated screening system.

After last June's elementary and high school job fairs at Malcolm X College, the...

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Colleges shortchange future teachers

Grant Pick

Last year, while finishing an education degree at Northeastern Illinois University, Tom McMorris student-taught at Goudy Elementary School in Edgewater.

"I was with a man I'd rate as a fairly bad teacher," recalls McMorris, a former dancer and waiter. "The guy gave me the room from the beginning. The kids were used to partying, and I had been trained on structure. I had no direction. My mentor would either leave the room or sit at his desk and read papers. I was left on my own."

The 34-year-old McMorris, son of a school principal and a dance teacher, represents the cutting...

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New teachers sink or swim

Grant Pick

The Chicago public school system hires some 1,200 teachers every year, sending beginners—roughly three-quarters of that total—into tough settings with the expectation that with little support, they will perform with grace and skill. It's a false assumption. Many novices look back at their training and complain it was insufficient—too lofty and out of touch—for the challenges they face.

The support they receive on the job proves inadequate. "This is a sink or swim model," observes Michelle Parker, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "New people are expected to...

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Guest Column

$3 million grant to improve middle schools

By: Lorraine Forte & Jennifer Randall

The newly created Chicago Consortium for Teacher Development has received a four-year, $3.1 million grant to help 24 middle schools and middle-grade departments improve their curriculum so that students become more involved in learning.

The consortium includes the Illinois Writing Project, Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education, Algebra Project, Chicago Metro History Education Center, Small Schools Workshop, the Chicago Public Schools and National-Louis University's Center for City Schools.

The newly created Chicago Consortium for Teacher Development has received a four-year, $3.1 million grant to help 24 middle schools and middle-grade departments improve their curriculum so that...
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