1. A beginning teacher mentoring and induction program is created to promote excellence in teaching, enhance student achievement, build a supportive environment within school districts, increase the retention of promising beginning teachers, and promote the personal and professional well-being of classroom teachers. Prior to the completion of the 2001-2002 school year, a school district shall, at a minimum, provide an approved beginning teacher mentoring and induction program for all classroom teachers who are beginning teachers.
2. The state board shall adopt rules to administer this section.
3. Notwithstanding subsection 1, a school district may provide a beginning teacher mentoring and induction program for all classroom teachers who are beginning teachers in the school years beginning July 1, 2001, and July 1, 2002, and notwithstanding section 284.4, subsection 1, a school district is eligible to receive moneys under section 284.13, subsection 1, paragraph "c", for each fiscal year of the fiscal period beginning July 1, 2001, and ending June 30, 2003, to establish a beginning teacher mentoring and induction program in accordance with this section.
4. Each participating school district shall develop an initial beginning teacher mentoring and induction plan. The plan shall be included in the school district's comprehensive school improvement plan submitted pursuant to section 256.7, subsection 21. The beginning teacher mentoring and induction plan shall, at a minimum, provide for a two-year sequence of induction program content and activities to support the Iowa teaching standards and beginning teacher professional and personal needs; mentor training that includes, at a minimum, skills of classroom demonstration and coaching, and district expectations for beginning teacher competence on Iowa teaching standards; placement of mentors and beginning teachers; the process for dissolving mentor and beginning teacher partnerships; district organizational support for release time for mentors and beginning teachers to plan, provide demonstration of classroom practices, observe teaching, and provide feedback; structure for mentor selection and assignment of mentors to beginning teachers; a district facilitator; and program evaluation.
5. A beginning teacher shall be informed by the school district, prior to the beginning teacher's participation in a mentoring and induction program, of the criteria upon which the beginning teacher shall be evaluated and of the evaluation process utilized by the school district.
6. Upon completion of the program, the beginning teacher shall be comprehensively evaluated to determine if the teacher meets expectations to move to the career level. The school district shall recommend a beginning teacher who has successfully completed the program for an educational license. A school district may offer a teacher a third year of participation in the program if, after conducting a comprehensive evaluation, the school district determines that the teacher is likely to successfully complete the mentoring and induction program by the end of the third year of eligibility. A teacher granted a third year of eligibility shall develop a teacher's mentoring and induction program plan in accordance with this chapter and shall undergo a comprehensive evaluation at the end of the third year. The board of educational examiners shall grant a one-year extension of the beginning teacher's provisional license upon notification by the school district that the teacher will participate in a third year of the school district's program.
2001 Acts, ch 161, §6; 2001 Acts, ch 177, §4, 15
Referred to in § 284.1
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