Teaching Teachers

Words by Jessi Devenyns  Photos by Eric Morales  Location Gus Garcia Young Men’s Leadership Academy 

Imagine if you were 22. You just graduated college and secured a teaching job within Austin Independent School District. You’ve always known you wanted to be in education and impact the lives of children for the better. What more could you ask for? Well, according to Candace Hunter, the managing partner of Teacher Boot Camp, a consultancy that offers tools and training to teachers to help them succeed in their careers, you better hope you make it through the year.

AISD’s most recent exit survey states that there are upwards of 500 teachers moving around within the district. That means changing grades, retirement, new hires, and those who leave mid-year. In correlation with declining teacher retention is student enrollment. In AISD, there were 1600 fewer students this year. According to Hunter, “There will be more leaving because charters are strangling [the public schools].”

However, Hunter says there is a chance to reverse this downward trend of student enrollments. She explains that it begins by retaining teachers which will, in turn, create a stable environment for students to flourish. According to her, ensuring the success of teachers will help secure the success of the district. Particularly for new teachers who are struggling, she regularly reminds her mentees, “If you can hang on till Christmas, you’ll see improvements.”

Hunter elaborates that, especially in the Title 1 schools within East Austin, teaching students becomes more of an exercise in bridging cultural and linguistic gaps as well as behavioral modeling than simply helping children learn facts and figures. Being successful at that takes time and support.

Audrey Dyer, a 7-year science teacher at all-girls school Bertha Sadler Means, agrees with Hunter’s definition of what “teaching” is and bolsters her argument for mentorship by saying that without support, “I would have been a ‘walkout.’” She even questions her sanity as she looks back, adding, “[Initially], I don’t really think I knew what I was doing.”

Thankfully for Dyer, there were tenured teachers who were ready to step in and show her the ropes – a luxury that they say is dwindling.

“AISD needs teachers who are willing to stick their neck out and tell another teacher, ‘Listen, I know you’re da bomb, and I know you know you’re da bomb, but this right here needs to change,’” Dyer explains. To accomplish that, she indicates that the mentoring system within AISD needs more structure. She nods with satisfaction when she notes that the district’s latest effort to instate an organized mentoring program outside of its instructional coaching is a step in the right direction.

Alternatively, Hunter, whose career was personally influenced and changed by a strong mentor-mentee relationship remembers and extols the value of the district-funded REACH program. She mentions that she wishes there were some way to bring back this program that was retired several years ago. REACH began in 2007 and provided mentors who offered quality individualized professional development opportunities, guidance and classroom support to teachers in their first, second, and third years of teaching. According to a 2013 AISD study, REACH did improve teacher retention and efficacy. “REACH was good. It was a great mentor program, but there’s no money for that,” she sighs.

Often times, the assumption is that teachers “have it down” and know how to handle all children. Dyer, too, has observed over the years that, “Teachers are expected to work magic, but we’re not given the glitter dust.” Hunter notes that knowing how to be an effective instructor goes deeper and begins with simple relationships. Many times, it involves knowing how to code switch and acknowledge implicit biases especially when teachers are instructing classrooms full of children with different backgrounds. “It’s just small things you just don’t know,” Hunter shrugs. It’s in situations like this where consultants like Teacher Boot Camp and mentorship programs within AISD can make a big difference.

Having a mentor can help new teachers avoid some of the more routine pitfalls and set them on track for a successful and effective career in education. For Dyer, an ideal mentor is simply a model. “Literally someone in there who is prepared models it from start to finish. I’m talking behavior, schedule, reminders, all of it,” she insists. “A lot of [the hurdles] are time management and classroom management.” Mentorship, she believes, is also a long-term commitment.

Dyer had her mentors for three years at the start of her career. Almost every day they came to model behavior, show her where to access resources, and simply watch her teach. Afterwards, she explains that the most critical piece of the mentorship was meeting with her mentor immediately afterwards to understand what and where she needed improvement. “With that being said, the teacher has to be willing to accept constructive criticism,” she grins.

Once the right combination of support and structure is discovered, the results become readily apparent in the classroom. Prior to her mentorship, “They pushed every button that a teenager could push,” Dyer recalls. After years of experience and mentorship, she says that her “back pockets are full,” and she is able to individually recognize what is required to bring each student out of her shell. Now, the girls go up to the front of the classroom and teach as if they were teachers themselves, engaging in debates, and autonomously searching to satisfy their curiosity. Despite this testament to her skill as an educator, Dyer attributes her success, and in turn that of the students, in great part to the strong mentorship she received early in her career.

In fact, she feels that the structure and guidance she received was so important that despite her “12-hour work days” she is attending an AISD-hosted workshop this summer in hopes of becoming a mentor to new teachers. However, she says to do so she needs more time during the day. That’s because part of her duties already include not only managing the classroom but also sponsoring three extracurricular activities and knowing how to write grants for extra classroom funding. “Nobody wants to be a mentor because of the time commitment,” she sighs. “Still, I think AISD is going in the right direction.”

Dyer mulls over the idea of the “right direction” and concludes that it’s not as varied as one often makes it out to be. “I feel like everybody wants to hear the same excuse of your school is different than my school… They might be, but they’re awfully the same. So I don’t think [teacher retention] has anything to do with students. I think it has everything to do with teachers.” Hunter also agrees that making teachers the priority is essential to building a stronger district and a better education for all children, no matter their background.

Although neither has a concrete solution to persuade teachers not only to teach students but to also coach new teachers, they agree that by incorporating mentorships into the daily routine, the district is heading in the right direction. For Hunter, student and teacher success all come down to one simple, but complicated, thing: “They need support.”

Shrinking
Austin no longer has one of the biggest districts in the state. While lower enrollment figures are city-wide, according to demographers, the shrinking population of school-age children is seen especially in Central and East Austin.

Texas law dictates that schools receive funding based on the number of students that they enroll. As the numbers decrease, the district is allowed to keep a smaller percentage of the property taxes it collects, and the difference goes back to the state in the form of “recapture.” This reduces the amount of funding each individual school receives for everything from training and supplies to lawn care contracts.

Contact
(512) 955-1133
teacherbootcamp0@gmail.com
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