COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
RICHMOND, VIRGINIA 23218-2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 50
March 5, 2004
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Jo Lynne
DeMary Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Recruitment Partnership with The New Teacher Project |
The Virginia Department of Education is pleased to
announce a two-year partnership with The New Teacher Project to create a
teacher recruitment and referral program that will increase the number of
highly qualified teaching candidates for school divisions. All interested superintendents and divisions
are encouraged to become partners in this initiative.
You are invited to learn more about the program
during the first Great Virginia Teach-In: A Call to Teach, sponsored by the Department of
Education, to be held at the Richmond Convention Center in downtown Richmond on
March 27-28. In addition to job
interviews and exhibits, the Teach-In will feature a series of concurrent
workshops, institutes, and orientation sessions. One of the institutes on
Saturday, March 27, will be The New Teachers Project: The Virginia Approach. To register for the Teach-In, please visit
the Department of Educations website at www.pen.k12.va.us
and click The Great Virginia Teach-In:
A Call to Teach icon, or call toll free 1-866-373-7004.
The New Teacher Project (TNTP) is a
national nonprofit organization dedicated to partnering with educational
entities to enhance their capacity to recruit, select, prepare, and support new
teachers effectively. The New Teacher
Project is dedicated to ensuring that schools are staffed with highly
qualified teachers. They believe that
outstanding individuals must be aggressively recruited into teaching, that only
the most qualified candidates should be selected to have the privilege of
teaching children, and that these new teachers must be prepared and supported
in a way that maximizes their effectiveness in attaining gains in student
achievement.
The initiative is a
two-year pilot program with the following four specific goals:
(1)
To develop the infrastructure for a statewide
teacher recruitment, screening, and referral system;
(2)
To recruit both nontraditional and traditionally
licensed teachers statewide;
(3)
To build the Virginia Department of Education's and
participating divisions capacity to manage the recruitment system; and
(4)
To establish a universal online application and
tracking system that provides real-time applicant information and data
tracking.
School divisions across the state are strongly
encouraged to participate in this new recruitment program funded through a
partnership grant by the Virginia Department of Education and the United States
Department of Education. The program
will recruit and refer high-quality, pre-screened applicants who meet a set
standard of eligibility. This program also will increase the number and quality
of applicants available to participating school divisions statewide; bolster
the number of applicants in targeted shortage areas such as mathematics,
science, and special education; and improve the quality of teachers hired.
To participate in this recruitment partnership,
please fax the attached questionnaire to Bruce Villineau, site advisor for The
New Teacher Project, at (509) 471-5484 by
March 23, 2004. Upon receipt of the
attached division questionnaire, additional information will be forwarded to
the contact person indicated.
For more information about this new partnership,
please contact Dr. Thomas A. Elliott, assistant superintendent for teacher education and licensure,(mailto:mtelliott@pen.k12. va.us)
at 804-371-2522.
JLD:psp
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