Teachers College Helps New Teachers Stay In the Classroom
By Marylena Mantas

When the Teacher’s College New Teachers Institute (TCNTI) was founded four years ago it served only 20 teachers in District 32 in Bushwick, Brooklyn. This year, the program that contributed to raising the teacher return rate in that district from 40 percent to 90 percent, will work with over 200 teachers in six different sites.

TCNTI, a program unique to the Columbia University Teachers College, was established
in response to the growing number of new teachers whom did not return for a second year.
It seeks to support new and early career teachers by engaging them in an intensive year-long
program focusing on leadership, standards and literacy.

“New teachers are very idealistic,” said Katharine Unger, director of the New Teachers Institute who developed the program and initiated the program’s collaboration with District 32. “Once reality hits this is where we lose them.”

According to the Institute, 22 percent of all new teachers leave teaching within three years, while 50 percent of teachers leave urban districts during their first five years of service. All this is taking place at a time when 2.2 million more teachers will be needed nationallly over the next four years.

“At the moment we have an awesome crisis. If we want to build up the capacity of our schools, and especially our public schools, we have to support our new teachers,” said Unger.

“The challenges facing NYC [do not just exist] around the country, but across the world,” said Unger citing that the Phillipines and the Bahamas share the same problems.

These two locations are only two of the six new sites that TCNTI will work with this year. Others include District 5 in Harlem, Stamford, CT, and Philadelphia, PA.

Representatives from all of the locations gathered in New York last month for an “intensive immersion,” a two-day crash course introducing them to TCNTI. Program facilitators for each location, who will work with TCNTI and perspective teachers, were assigned.

“They take the model and customize it to the culture of their school,” said Unger.

The model seeks to uphold TCNTI’s primary objective: “to enable participants to become effective teachers and leaders, and provide them with the support, knowledge and networks they need to stay in teaching.”

TCNTI seeks to achieve its objectives through hosting a minimum of 15 seminars on-site with professionals from TC. Seminars focus on a variety of topics, including community building in the classroom and beyond, lesson planning, classroom management, discipline, standards for new teachers, conflict resolution, and multiple intelligences.

In addition, participating teachers benefit from an intensive mentoring program, where they are paired up with veteran teachers in their schools, mentors from TC, and a vast array of TCNTI alumni.

Teachers also participate in a day-long workshops and have access to professional development opportunities offered through the Center for Educational Outreach and Innovation at Teachers College.

Upon completing the year-long program, teachers remain connected to TCNTI and its objectives through an elaborate technological network. This interactive website, which is still under works, will provide teachers with live chats with experts and useful resources for teachers.

“Our experience in Brooklyn and now Harlem proves we have developed a focused program that strikes a nerve with new teachers,” said Unger. “It is so important to provide these young teachers with the support they need as they face issues and problems that they could not have possibly been prepared for in college.”

According to Unger, TCNTI welcomes the expansion, that has taken place, while having a specific vision in mind: “How do we expand and move forward with integrity and quality.”

TCNTI, housed in The Center for Education Outreach and Innovation, gets support from several partner foundations, including Revson Foundation, Lowenstein Foundation, Starr Foundation, JP Morgan Charitable Trust, and the Clark Foundation.

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