Developing Comprehensive Induction in Jewish Day Schools: Lessons from the Field

Abstract

Effective school-based induction for new teachers involves much more than mentoring; it requires a comprehensive array of supports buttressed by a collaborative professional culture. Yet few schools are able to offer such a nourishing environment to their new hires. What would it take to bridge the gap between the real and the ideal? In 2005 team of researchers and practitioners launched a three-year project with two goals: a) to help the leaders of four Jewish day schools create comprehensive systems of induction for their new teachers and b) to carefully document the process. This paper presents the theory behind our work, our strategies for effecting change and lessons learned along the way.

Notes

¹This project was funded in part by a grant from the Covenant Foundation.

²The Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education at Brandeis is an academic center dedicated to the study and improvement of teaching and learning in Jewish education. The research of the Induction Project illustrates the kind of practice-centered, inside-the-action research typically undertaken by the Mandel Center.

³At the time of this writing, the induction leaders from our partner schools continue to meet regularly, without the facilitation of a Mandel Center coach, at their own initiative, and on their own time.

⁴We do not provide a detailed description of each partner school's progress and limitations here; such an analysis appears in “The Mandel Induction Partnership Project Evaluation, January 2009,” available through the Mandel Center.

⁵One year after the partnership ended, to the induction leader's dismay, the school had not yet formally incorporated the school's standards or continuum or practice into the teacher hiring or evaluation processes.