It is a reflective support and assessment process designed to assist beginning teachers' professional growth. Each activity is designed to enable beginning teachers to explore important aspects of teaching and relate each one directly to their own classrooms. Experts predict that as a result of increasing student enrollments and teacher retirements, over 2 million new teachers will be hired in the next ten years.
Teaching is the only profession with no built-in apprenticeship phase.
New teachers are expected to do the same job as veterans, with no allowances for lack of experience. They become skilled at analyzing their own practice, sharing ideas with other new teachers, and learning form more experienced colleagues. The components of professional practice and the levels of performance scales provide a road map for professional growth, framing teachers' understanding of their work and the complex art of teaching. The development cycle of plan, teach, reflect, and apply is used in each of the inquiries and observations. The process helps beginning teachers identify their teaching strengths and areas for growth, based on components of professional practice.