Training teachers for success

A teacher at Grolee Elementary School in Opelousas, Louisiana Also a statewide trainer for new teachers, mentors, and assessors and a new board member of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)

Bright Idea:

This spring, when Haynes starts her duties on the NCATE board-the body that accredits schools of education-she'll no doubt draw on her extensive experience with Louisiana's "New Teacher Assistance and Assessment Program."

In 1995, Haynes joined with fellow NEA members in Louisiana and convinced state lawmakers to implement the program, which replaced a more punitive assessment system that seemed more oriented toward penalizing teachers than helping them.

Now Haynes-who helped create the current assessment program-works to ensure that new teachers succeed. She trains both the mentors who advise first-year teachers and the assessors who evaluate them.

The key, Haynes emphasizes, is providing substantive assistance to first-year teachers, so they'll know what assessment criteria they have to meet. Mentors are trained to observe and advise new teachers in classroom management, planning, effective teaching, and professional development.

"In this role, I'm helping both veteran and new teachers," says Haynes, herself a veteran with 27 years experience.

Haynes especially enjoys training teachers to be mentors. "It's a thrill for me when a teacher says this is great professional development," she says. "We are constantly reminding new and veteran teachers what needs to be done to enhance learning for children."

Haynes, who also teaches in-school suspension classes, was one of 14 NEA members who trained this summer to serve as an assessor for NCATE. This independent organization is backed by a wide variety of professional associations within education, including NEA.

Teachers play a key role in NCATE deliberations. One-third of the NCATE board is named by NEA and AFF.

As a new NCATE board member, Haynes believes she'll bring a unique perspective to the accreditation process.

"I'm able to look at how an education department works with student teachers," she says. "I know what students need to know when they get out of college."

In her work with NCATE, Haynes says she'll be looking for "innovative ideas for recruiting and retaining education students." She'll be exploring internships for students studying to become teachers and other ideas for placing students in classrooms even before they begin student teaching.

Haynes has even broader goals in mind as well. She's eager to do her part to help reach a major NCATE goal: persuading public school districts to hire only graduates from accredited colleges of education.

Impact:

Thanks to efforts by Joyce Haynes and her colleagues, Louisiana has become a trend-setter in progressive professional development and new teacher assistance.

"We have to see things that need changing and make the appropriate changes," says Haynes.

For More:

Contact Haynes at 318/942-3130 or JAPHaynes@aol.com.