Summary of the Peer Support Program

What is the Peer Support Program?

It is part of the district-wide Peer Support program for teachers who have been recently hired in the El Rancho Unified School District and are currently on a Probationary 1 employment status.

The experienced teacher, called the mentor teacher, works on a one-to-one basis with the newly hired teacher, offering guidance and consultation for their first year of teaching in the district as a probationary teacher. Typical activities include classroom visits, assistance, coaching, modeling lessons, offering individualized guidance or “just in time” support and reflecting on professional development. The term “just in time” means immediate support for newly hired teachers that may or may not be detailed out in a professional development and reflection of growth for the newly hired teacher called the Peer Collaboration (PC) logs. Mentor teachers also model best practices and attend on-going professional development activities with other mentors all provided by the Peer Support program.

Components of Peer Support

The Peer Support Program leads a newly hired teacher through a one-year journey of teaching and reflection. The cornerstone of the program is weekly, one-on-one guidance and collaboration from an experienced mentor trained in peer support. Mentors assist their teachers in observation-cycle and reflective learning, collecting evidence of their teaching practice, reflecting on that evidence, and completing documented self reflection of that process in an online submission, which is reviewed regularly by mentors and program leadership throughout the peer support experience.

Professional development includes participation in subject- or grade-level collaborative meetings, Peer Collaboration(PC) logs with mentors, observations of exemplary teachers, co-assessment of California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP) and weekly reflective dialogue with mentor master teachers. Additional training received at sites/districts and subsequent implementation of teaching strategies are also essential components of professional development. After completing Peer Collaboration (PC) logs, teachers choose the most effective professional development for their particular teaching context and self reflection of these experiences or activities which demonstrate professional growth during the length of the Peer Support Program.

The rationale and overall design of the El Rancho Unified School District (ERUSD) Peer Support program is based on sound theory, research, and practice. The delivery of services to participating teachers is carefully planned and implemented in ways that are consistent with the holistic, developmental view of teaching reflected in The California Standards for the Teaching Profession. This collaborative model utilizing full-time classroom teachers as Mentors, focuses on improving classroom practice and on developing teachers who reflect on their practice while being responsive to the diverse cultural, social, and linguistic backgrounds of all students.

The Peer Support program is designed to assist and support newly hired year-one probationary teachers as responsible members of the teaching profession. The program design advances the application of participating teachers’ skills and knowledge in relation to the California Standards for the Teaching Profession.

It provides participating teachers with Mentors who are veteran teachers of mentor-quality, for individualized support and assessment in the application of the California Standards for the Teaching Profession; State-adopted academic content standards and curriculum materials; the New Teacher Center training to promote reflection, self-assessment, and analysis of student work; and newly-acquired knowledge from seminars and individually chosen professional development activities that advances classroom teaching practice.

The El Rancho Unified School District, as the sole sponsor of the program, has in place an administrative structure that establishes clear direction and monitoring of the program. This foresight demonstrates a long-range and progressive commitment to the work of new teacher and teacher support and assessment.

A Leadership Team provides assistance, guidance, and support for all stakeholders. The Leadership Team Members’ unique positions within and across organizational boundaries ensure a commitment to teacher education at the pre-service, induction, and continuing levels. Each member of the Leadership Team is familiar with the foundations of the New Teacher Center training and how it creates a strong foundation for all work with participating teachers. The Leadership Team meets annually which ensures articulation among all stakeholders and allows for collegial discussions focused on the elements of the Peer Support program. It is through these types of unifying efforts that each of the stakeholders have a positive impact on the organization, coordination, and governance of the Teacher Support programs.

The El Rancho Unified School District, provides the authority and support for Teacher Support programs leadership to create strategies that achieve the goals of the program while representing the interests of all stakeholders. Support is provided through personnel and services. These include, but are not limited to: Teacher Support and Induction Director; Teacher Support Coordinator; Program Specialist of Special Education; Credential Analyst; Induction Mentors; and release time for newly hired teachers to observe veteran teachers.

The Teacher Support Coordinator maintains an electronic file of completed Peer Collaboration(PC) logs. Formative feedback about the participating teachers’ progress toward completion of the program provided at monthly participating teachers’ seminars, through electronic feedback to individual participating teachers, and informally through communications between the participating teacher and the mentor.

The objectives of the General Education teachers are to:

1. Develop teacher capacity as defined in the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTP)
2. Direct support toward improving student achievement
3. Use formative assessment practices to guide support
4. Document professional growth over time
5. Model and encourage ongoing self-assessment and reflection
6. Foster collaboration and leadership among teachers
7. Ensure program improvement through ongoing research, development, and evaluation
8. Ensure the professional success and retention of qualified teachers

In addition to the goals above, the objectives of the Education Specialists are to:

1. Improve the achievement level of students to help meet the Individualized Education Program (IEP) goals which are based on state-adopted content standards and curricular frameworks as appropriate to teaching assignment through an intense, supportive process
2. Enable newly hired teachers to effectively teach students who have disabilities and are culturally, linguistically, and academically diverse