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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 6, 2002

News Release

Innovative Partnerships to Boost Teaching and Learning Honored by NEA-Saturn/UAW

Success Parallels Labor-Management Collaborations in Auto Industry

Washington, D.C. - When school doors open next fall, will there be a quality teacher in every classroom? Chances are improved for the students in six school districts across the country, which will be honored this month for their collaborative efforts to improve teaching and learning through successful mentoring programs. The six school districts are the 2002 recipients of the NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Awards, established in 1997 to recognize exemplary collaborative efforts in pursuit of quality education.

Again this year, the award was narrowed to focus on partnerships to mentor new teachers, in an effort to help address the shortage of teachers going to - and staying in - America's classrooms. More than two million teachers will be needed over the next decade as enrollment increases and teachers leave the profession or retire. NEA-Saturn/UAW award winners demonstrated effective models to help new educators survive and thrive in the classroom. "Mentoring is the single most effective way to ensure a new teacher's success and to keep beginners in the classroom," said National Education Association President Bob Chase. "The sad fact is that today, one in five new teachers will leave within their first three years on the job - largely for lack of support. The shining examples of effective mentoring partnerships honored this year by NEA, Saturn and UAW will help other communities recognize ways to retain terrific teachers in their schools."

Jill Lajdziak, Saturn Vice President of Sales, Service and Marketing, echoed Chase's praise. "Saturn salutes this year's Partnership Award winners, as well as all teachers and administrators who work together to help new teachers succeed. Partnerships in pursuit of quality can have powerful results, in the classroom and on the assembly line, and we look forward to welcoming this year's winners to the Saturn Plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., in November."

The 2002 award recipients hail from Fort Wayne, Ind.; Dubuque and Muscatine, Iowa; Royal Oak, Mich.; Olmsted Falls, Ohio; and Kennewick, Wash. They will be honored by the NEA, Saturn, and UAW on June 28 in Dallas, during the NEA's Bargaining and Instructional Issues Conference, held just before the NEA's annual Representative Assembly.

The 2002 NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award winners are:

• Fort Wayne, Indiana, where the Fort Wayne Education Association and the Fort Wayne Community Schools in 1988 developed a successful joint mentor/intern program that is credited with the district's high retention rate. Intern teachers are matched with experienced mentor teachers who orient the beginners to school procedures and environment, serve as resources and sounding boards, and model effective teaching. Of the more than 700 new teachers hired in Fort Wayne from 1997-2002, a full 85 percent are still with Ft. Wayne schools, and less than 1 percent have actually left the teaching profession altogether - far below the national average.
• Dubuque, Iowa, is the site of the Dubuque Mentoring Program -- a partnership of the Dubuque Education Association and the community school district. Begun in the 1999-2000 school year, this professional mentoring program provides a two-year transition for new teachers. The program's three levels include orientation, support and guidance on topics like diversity and classroom management, followed by a two-year study of teaching and learning by the mentor and beginning teacher. Last year, the program helped retain every one of the 87 new teachers in the district's schools.
• Muscatine, Iowa, where a shared interest of the Muscatine Community School District and the Muscatine Education Association in hiring and retaining quality teachers led to the development of a mentoring program that helped retain nearly 92 percent of the beginning teachers last year, with the others leaving the area but remaining in the profession. Eight lead mentors provide training to 28 building mentors, who then provide ongoing coaching to new teachers for their first two years. The program won the attention of Iowa Public Television, which spotlighted its success in its series Who Will Teach the Children?
• Royal Oak, Michigan, where the Royal Oak Education Association and the Royal Oak School District developed a mentoring program that not only aids new teachers for their first three years, but their mentors and students as well. In a district coping with twice as many new hires as anticipated - 40 each during the past two years - new teachers say the Royal Oak Mentor Program has helped prepare them for the ever-changing roles and responsibilities faced by today's educators. Every single mentor returned for the program's second year. Mentor teachers reported that the additional training they received was valuable and their mentee's growth inspiring to watch. Mentors were so energized by the experience, they want their roles as mentors to be included in the evaluation process for tenured staff.
• Olmsted Falls, Ohio, where the Olmsted Falls Mentor Partnership Program helps new teachers develop their skills with support from a trained mentor. The Olmsted Falls School District and the Olmsted Falls Education Association jointly sponsor this support program. Mentors, aligned with new teachers in a similar grade or subject level, help the novices develop their teaching skills within the philosophical framework and expectations of the school district. As a result of the program, Olmsted Falls boasted a new teacher retention rate of 100 percent. All its entry-year teachers will be on staff for the 2002-2003 school year. Not only was there 100 percent attendance at all mentor/mentee meetings and full cooperation in completing documentation logs and classroom observation forms, all novice teachers got successful evaluations and commended the program for helping them prepare for the Praxis III exam.
• Kennewick, Washington, where the Kennewick School District and the Kennewick Education Association worked together in developing the Peer Assistance and Review (PAR) Program, a two-year old initiative designed to attract, retain and assist new teachers coming into this district. Each newcomer works with one of three trained Consulting Peer Educators, who are master teachers on leave from their classrooms. Through Washington State University, CPEs teach two three-credit courses on classroom management, teaching strategies, resources building and problem solving. CPEs also observe new teachers in action, report on their progress and follow through with consultations and discussions. During the program's first year, CPEs helped retain 39 of Kennewick's 40 new teachers.

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing 2.7 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, and students preparing to become teachers.