The New Teacher Project: What We Do

The New Teacher Project utilizes an integrated approach to the recruitment, selection, pre-service training, and continued development of new teachers. Continually refined since 1997, these models focus on attracting and developing excellent new teachers who will improve student achievement. Our expertise spans across the following areas:

Recruitment
Selection
Pre-Service Training
Program Administration
Ongoing Development

Recruitment
We know how to help our clients attract outstanding, diverse individuals who have the talent and desire to improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged children. We specialize in attracting new teachers for shortage area subjects such as math, science and special education, and for high-need schools that are struggling to raise student achievement. We can help recruit outstanding education majors for challenged schools and also expand the pool of teacher applicants by reaching out effectively to talented, diverse individuals from non-education backgrounds, including recent college graduates and mid-career professionals. We accomplish this through:

	Establishing an outcomes-based, data-driven recruiting campaign
	Inspiring candidates with our compelling recruitment messages and materials
	Using proven recruitment strategies that include internet marketing, public relations, print advertising and full-time recruiters
	Training recruiters to effectively market the district and employ our proven recruitment strategies

Selection
At The New Teacher Project, we have found that teachers' character traits and leadership skills are the greatest determinants of their success. Our rigorous selection model places candidates in a number of challenging scenarios that enable us to determine their capacities for leadership, problem-solving and continuous learning. We help select outstanding teachers by using:

	A proven set of selection criteria based on character, leadership, and achievement
	A highly professional, rigorous, and competitive application process that maximizes our ability to assess candidates' qualifications and inspires candidates to teach in the district
	Carefully-structured and normed rating tools that promote consistent assessment of candidates
	Training to ensure that the selection process is implemented effectively

Pre-Service Training
The New Teacher Project believes that all new teachers, regardless of prior experience, should take part in an intensive pre-service training program. Particularly for teachers going into high-need schools, a specialized, intensive training to orient them to the day-to-day challenges they will face and the practices needed to be effective in those situations is a critical component to retaining these teachers and ensuring their ability to be effective in the classroom. This pre-service training program:

	Ensures that new teachers realize that their primary responsibility is to effect dramatic gains in student achievement
	Provides teachers with a toolbox of strategies from which to draw as they begin teaching
	Gives new teachers primary responsibility for setting up and running a summer school classroom under the supervision of a veteran teacher, in order to build their skill base
	Facilitates consultation between new and veteran teachers and the sharing of best practices among the new teachers

Program Administration
The New Teacher Project has extensive experience in the development, implementation, management, and assessment of new programs for a variety of educational entities. From our partnerships with school districts, universities, and state departments of education, we launch innovative new programs and help our partners manage and institutionalize these programs. Our expertise in program administration includes:

	Bringing together the interested parties to facilitate a shared vision for the program and gain the commitments necessary to its success
	Assisting in the identification and pursuit of outside sources of funding or support, where necessary
	Developing a process flow and implementation strategy for the new program
	Setting goals and creating accountability structures to establish quality standards and the capacity to meet them
	Identifying and hiring experienced, talented program staff
	Establishing a brand identity for the program and overseeing program communications

Ongoing Development
The New Teacher Project encourages new teachers to assume responsibility for advancing their professional development, with a continued focus on meeting high expectations for their students. To facilitate this continuous learning, we:

	Help establish natural peer networks among new recruits by treating each pool of new teachers as a unified cohort
	Link new teachers to experienced �lead teachers� from past cohorts to facilitate informal mentorship and support opportunities
	Develop forums to foster a support network, such as a newsletter, speaker series, and discussion groups for new teachers to reflect on classroom practices
	Encourage new teachers to observe other teachers and visit schools widely regarded as excellent
	Encourage teachers to continually seek critical feedback from others on their teaching