Western Carolina University

The North Carolina State School Board of Education requires each school system to develop and provide a Beginning Teacher Support Program plan (NCDPI, 2002) for the support and assessment of teachers during their first three years of service. Implementing the state-mandated plan is a challenge to small rural school systems without adequate resources.

The Center for the Support of Beginning Teachers collaborates with Beginning Teacher Coordinators in our region to provide a comprehensive formalized program of support for new teachers, mentors, and school executives. Induction activities include support, practice, feedback, and evaluation jointly delivered by school systems and university. Program components consist of:

• WCU Beginning Teacher Induction Symposia
• Face-to-face meetings complemented and enhanced by an online support program
• Onsite support for beginning teachers in challenging situations
• Ongoing professional development for mentors 
• Opportunities for assistant principals/principals to focus on their role in new teacher development
• Annual online surveys of beginning teachers, mentors, and principals

Beginning Teacher Coordinators Events

Induction Program Survey - The North Carolina Mentoring and Induction Program Standards form the basis on which individual mentoring and induction programs are assessed. WCU partners with District mentor program leaders to design a reliable infrastructure to support the collection, analysis and use of standards-based data to promote continuous high quality program improvement. All stakeholders work together to mediate challenges to program improvement and to advance positive impacts and successes of mentoring and induction programs.

If you are a beginning teacher coordinator and would like additional information, please contact Sandy Ballinger.