Vision Statement

The Hacienda La Puente Unified School District (HLPUSD) Teacher Induction Program provides high quality mentoring for all newly hired teachers in HLPUSD holding preliminary credentials to support their professional growth and student achievement in HLPUSD schools.  The HLPUSD Induction Program includes the following elements:

•      Regular coaching within the educator’s context by a carefully selected and trained mentor

•      Personalized learning that is integrated with school and district goals

•      Competency indicators required for program completion that support recommendation for the clear teaching credential. (California State Department of Education: Greatness by Design Report, 2012)

Vision Description

Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Induction Program is based upon the following research-based principles for teacher induction and adult learning theory.

New Teacher Center research identifies the following critical elements of high-quality induction programs:

• A multi-year program, spanning at least the first two years of teaching;

• Sanctioned time for mentor-new teacher interaction;

• Rigorous mentor selection criteria;

• Initial training and on-going professional development and support for mentors;

• Pairing of new teachers and mentors in similar subject areas and grade levels; and

• Documentation and evidence of new teacher growth.

Professional Development provided in the HLPUSD Teacher Induction program includes the following core features of high quality professional development:

·         Content focus, including knowledge of subject matter and most effective pedagogy, or how students best learn that subject matter. 

·         Coherence includes sustained learning that builds on teachers’ prior knowledge, is aligned to standards, frameworks and assessments, and state, district, and schools.

·         Collective Participation: Teacher growth occurs best in a collegial and collaborative environment. It reaps the highest benefits when it is ongoing, job embedded, and includes meaningful discourse/inquiry. It can include grade level, school or district wide collaboration and mentoring to examine student work and plan lessons. 

·         Duration: Effective professional development provides enough time to learn and apply the content, and is held regularly throughout the designated time frame. 

·         Active Learning: includes being mentored, peer coaching, observing or being observed followed by feedback and discussion, analyzing student work and assuming a leadership role. 

Mentoring and professional development in the Induction Program are grounded in the Adult Learning research and principles of Malcolm Knowles, et. al   This Adult Learning theory is founded on the principles that effective training is:

·         Relevant to the experience of the adult learner

·         Engaged: the adult learner retains knowledge more readily if they are engaged in the process of discovery and exploration

·         Active: the learning process should be active and replicate as close as possible the environment in which the knowledge will be applied

·         Learner-centered: the focus is on learner acquiring knowledge and applying it.

This research and learning theories are the foundation of the HLPUSD Teacher Induction Program.   Additionally, district professional development provided to new teachers is based on a variety of research.