Educational Leadership

ins and outs of administrative tasks like grading, know where to go for a fire drill, and figure out how to purchase resources through the school—all the while knowing teaching evaluations are looming.

With so much to think about and plan for, how can a rookie teacher be expected to succeed? New teachers need a comprehensive system of supports that includes a variety of field experiences in preservice programs, a manageable workload, thoughtfully matched and organized mentorships, and a community of practice.

populations, and teaching strategies and gives preservice teachers more opportunities to develop good relationships with mentors.

Make Workloads Manageable
New teachers often have the most dif-
ficult teaching assignments, with more
classes to prepare for and at more
disadvantaged schools—all while
they are developing an entire year’s
and accommodations, and gathering
materials for the next day’s lesson.

With so much to think about and plan for,
how can a rookie teacher be expected to succeed?

Start with Preparation

Teacher preparation programs should bring experience, practical wisdom, and theory together (Rust, 2010). One field experience—typically only one placement, with one mentor teacher—is simply not enough. Having more field experiences would give preservice teachers more time to adapt theoretical knowledge to pedagogical practice. Requiring more of students during these field experiences—particularly an action research project—may also increase graduating teachers’ feelings of readiness (Capraro, Capraro, & Helfedlt, 2010).

At the school where I teach, I have been part of a new program with a local university that offers students interested in the high-need area of science a short field experience during their first year in the education program. Students observe a few lessons and then work with their professors and local teachers to develop and deliver three standards-based, hands-on inquiry lessons that professors and teachers evaluate. Before their culminating student-teaching assignment, these students will participate in more hours of observation and assist a different local teacher. The variety of experiences helps new teachers learn to adapt to different school environments, student

worth of lesson plans for the first time
(Panesar, 2010). In addition, some are
encouraged to take on extracurricular
activities. Even with only one cur-
riculum to plan for, in my first year I
found myself routinely leaving school
at around 6:00 p.m. after working on
paperwork, arranging for differentiation
delivering great lessons. A lighter
workload that takes into account the
fact that these teachers are developing
new lessons each day will improve new
teachers’ sense of well-being. It might
also raise their students’ achievement
because the teachers will have time to
prepare more effective lessons and hone