TeachingImprovementPlans

Feedbackandguidancearethemostessentialpartsofdevelopingtheskillsofanewteacher.
Manytimesadministratorsdonothavetimetogiveproperfeedbackandsupportfornew
teachers.Indeed,manyassociatetheadministratorastheevaluatorofonesteachingability.
Forthefirstyearteacher,thepresenceofanadministratorintheclassroomheightensanxiety
andgeneratesstress.WillhethinkImincompetent?Ihopethestudentsdontblowitfor
me.Shesgoingtofiremeforsure.Thesedistressingthoughtspulltheteacherawayfrom
teachingandfocusingonthestudents.Instead,theteacherisworriedabouttheevaluation
thatissuretocome.

ACCsprogramfocusistoprovideallpartieswiththetoolsforassistingtheinternteacherwith
allaspectsofthefirstyearofteaching.TheACCsupervisorvisitswiththepracticedeyeofone
whohasbenefitedfromyearsofteachingandadministration.Thisstrategicresourcewill
observetheintern,makesuggestions,shareconcernsandconversations,andworkwiththe
mentorandcampusstaffonthebehalfoftheintern.

Thementorteachesinthesamedepartment,possiblythesamesubject.Thementorcarries
noevaluativepowersnorisheorsheconcernedwithwhetherornotthebeginningteacheris
anexpertintheclassroom.Theroleofthementoristooffersupport,feedback,andvaluable
observationsaboutwhatishappeningintheclassroominwaysthatthefirstyearteacheris
unabletoaccesswhileintheprocessofteaching.Thementorsviewpointwillassisttheintern,
supervisor,andTCPstaffinfacilitationofasuccessfulfirstyear.

Basics:

IdentifyAreasofNeed:Theinternteachersshouldexploretheirteachingandidentifywhich
areasoftheirteachingtheyseektoimprove.Potentialareasmightincludeclassroom
organization,procedures,givingdirections,transitionsfromoneactivitytothenext,handling
misbehavior,andquestioning/discussionstrategies.Supervisorsandmentorswilldirectthe
interntoconsidertheinitialareasofneedtofacilitatethefirstweeksofschoolandcontinue
interngrowth,confidence,selfefficacy,andsuccess.Duringsharedconversations,interns
shouldselecttwoorthreeareasofteachingastheyreflectoneachweeksprogress.

ConversationandDocumentation:Theintern,supervisor,andmentorwilldiscussspecific
areastheinternwouldliketodevelop.ATeachingImprovementPlan(TIP)willaddressthese
concernsandneedswithspecificguidanceinHOWtotackleconcerns.Supervisorswillwork
withtheTIPduringtheyear,assisttheinternanddocumentintern'sprogressandsuccess.
InternsshouldbemindfulofthestepsanddeadlinesandusetheTIPasahelpfultool.

TheTIPwillbeinitiatedbytheSupervisorandtheMentor.Studythesamplelistedforbasic
understandingoftheprocess.InternswillworkwithTIPSduringthefirstyearofteaching,and
secondyeargoalsshouldcomefromtheTIP.

ElectronicversionofTIPonhttp://www.austincc.edu/teacher/induction

CenterforTeacherCertification,ACC
CenterforTeacherCertification,ACC
 TIPDocumentationSamples

CenterforTeacherCertification,ACC
 SpringSemesterDocumentationforTIPSuccess
OncetheTeachingImprovementPlan(TIP)hasbeencreatedbytheinternandthe
mentoraswellasthesupervisorandintern,thenextstepistodocumentwhetherornot
thegoalsoftheTIParebeingmet.

Providingclear,observabledocumentationofteacherimprovementissignificant
becauseitallowsinternstogenerate,analyze,andusedatatoforinterventionsaswell
asdeterminewhetherornottheyaremeetingthesuccessindicatorsoftheirTeacher
ImprovementPlan.Also,thedocumentationcandemonstrateprofessionalgrowthand
developmentoftheinternandshouldbehelpfulforuseontheevaluativestandardsof
theschoolanddistrict.

Boththementorandinternshouldconsidertheactofteachingasinvolvingmany
variables.Whatworksinoneclassmaynotworkforanother.Onewaytoaddress
thesevariationsistoobserveandcollectdatainonlyoneclass.BecausetheTIP
sequencestressesgrowth,theinternteachershouldselectaclassthatpresentsa
challenge.Astheteacherdevelops,dramaticchangesinhis/herteachingcanbeeasily
documentedforthatspecificclass.

Documentation WhoCollects Description

Instrument theData
Theinternmaycollectsamplesthatillustrateaspecific
successindicatorontheTIP.Thesesamplesshould
Samplesof Intern representofarangeofstudentsintheclassroom(high
studentwork achieving,average,slow).Theworksamplemightalso
befocusedonspecificstudents.Forexample,ifthe
successindicatorcallsforstudentswhoareeasily
distractedtocompleteworkintheclassroomtime
allowed,worksamplesfromsuchstudentswhichindicate
thatthesuccessindicatorsarebeingmetare
appropriate.(Werecommendthatnamesareblacked
outwithamarkertoprotectconfidentiality.)
WalkThrough Mentor Awalkthroughcanbemadebythementorduring
Observation specifictimesofthelesson.Forexample,iftheintern
wantstoimprovehowhe/shebeginstheclassroom,the
mentormightwalkinatthebeginningoftheclassroom
session,usingthewalkthroughformusedforintern
observations.
Data Intern/Mentor Hereeithertheinternormentorcancollectdataabout
Collection whatstudentsaredoing.Forexample,iftheinternwants
studentstoworkonawarmupatthebeginningofthe
class,he/shecantakenotesonhowmanystudentsare
notengagedwiththewarmupwithinthethreeminutesof
theclass.He/shecandetermineifthenumberis
decreasingofincreasing.Likewise,amentorcancollect
datafortheinternteacherwhilevisitingtheroom.

CenterforTeacherCertification,ACC
 Observation Mentor Thementor(orotherpersontheinterniscomfortable
or with)canobservetheclassroom.Thispersonwillfocus
Other ontakingnotesaboutthespecificareaofconcernthat
Teacher theinternisdeveloping.Theinternshouldhaveapre
observationconversationtoinformtheobserverasto
whatshouldbedocumented.

Video/Audio Intern/Mentor Insomecases,theinternmaysetupavideorecordingof

Recording theclassroomoraudiorecordingofthemselves
speaking.Videorecordingscanbeusedtodetermine
pacing,disciplineconcerns,teachingtendencies,anda
varietyofotherteachingbehaviors.Theaudiorecording
canbeusedtoascertainskillssuchasquestioning,
discussiontechniques,redirectionsofstudents,quality
ofexplanationsordirectionsofactivities.Itimportant
thattheinternfollowallproceduresrequiredbythe
school,whichmightincludeobtainingpermissionfrom
theparentsofthestudentstobevideotaped.
Gradebook Intern Theinternteachercanusegradebookdatatodetermine
and ifasuccessindicatorisbeingachieved.Forexample,an
Assessments internwantstoincreasetheabilityofcertainstudentsto
completehomework.TheactionontheTIPmight
includecontactingparentsofstudentswhofailto
completehomework.Thesuccessindicatorsmight
includeadecreaseinthenumberofzeroesinthegrade
book.Datafromthegradebookcanbeusedassupport
thattheTIPhasbeensuccessful.
TAKS Intern Theinternbeginscollectingdatainthefallsemestervia
Benchmarks, EDTC3004,andthencontinueswithdatacollectionand
reading studentcasestudiesintheEDTC3005course.
inventories
Social Intern, Theinternbeginscollectingdatainthe fallsemestervia
improvement Mentor EDTC3004,andthencontinueswithdatacollectionand
studentcasestudiesintheEDTC3005course.To
understandthecorrelationbetweentheacademicand
socialbehaviorareas,internsalsoaddSocial
Improvementtotheirstudiesandinterventions.Interns
canusesurveys,observationsofstudentbehaviorin
class,mentorobservations,andothersourcesto
determinethesourceoftheproblemandhowitmaybe
resolved.

CenterforTeacherCertification,ACC