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IT/ACP
UTILIZES TxBESS FOR FIELD SUPERVISORS &
MENTORS
ABOUT TxBESS
The Texas Beginning Educator Support System
(TxBESS), an initiative of the State Board for
Educator Certification (SBEC), is designed to provide systematic support
for beginning teachers in their first and second years on the job. Since
the spring of 2000, over 5,000 beginning teachers have been supported through
TxBESS. Partnerships among beginning teachers,
local school districts, campuses, educator preparation entities, local
businesses, and regional education centers have shared responsibility for
the success of these of beginning teachers.
Supporting beginning teachers early in their
careers leads to reduced turnover and a more experienced, better-qualified
public school teaching staff. TxBESS is part of a
coherent, standards-based system that begins with the state student
standards and continues through pre-service preparation, induction, and
in-service professional development. Beginning teachers who have TxBESS support will attain greater professional
expertise more quickly than unsupported beginning teachers, which will in
turn lead to higher academic achievement among Texas students.
To achieve this goal the TxBESS system has:
1. Developed an array of effective models of
beginning teacher support based on the TxBESS
Performance Standards and disseminated the models to the wider educational
community;
2. Provided 10 percent of the state's
beginning teachers with support teams consisting of mentors, the principal
of the beginning teacher's campus, and representation from teacher
preparation entities;
3. Provided each team member, including the
beginning teacher, with training on the TxBESS
Performance Standards and ongoing training and support;
4. Provided beginning teachers with coaching
based on the TxBESS Activity Profile;
5. Improved the ability of beginning
teachers to work successfully with diverse students and communities;
6. Provided a rich program of job-embedded,
extended professional development for support team members-mentors, teacher
educators, and building principals-that includes developing expertise in
enhancing beginning teacher performance;
7. Enhanced building principals' abilities
to establish a school climate that supports beginning teacher growth and
retention;
8. Identified models of evaluating the
impact of TxBESS and disseminated findings to the
wider educational community; and
9. Stabilized the teaching force by reducing
beginning teacher transfer rates within and across school districts.
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