New Teacher Center

Ellen Moir. Ellen Moir is Executive Director of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) New Teacher Center, a national resource for high-quality new teacher and new administrator induction programs. The New Teacher Center conducts research, develops and administers induction programs, and consults with organizations, education leaders, and policymakers nationwide on issues related to new educator support. Moir served for 15 years… See full bio.

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Story: Read about Jean Duffey's story of trying to improve working conditions for teachers who float into borrowed classrooms: Jean Duffey is a teacher on a mission—she wants to improve working conditions for teachers who “float” into borrowed classrooms. An algebra teacher for twenty years, Jean is a master mentor at Sam Rayburn High School in Pasadena, Texas. Her role as a mentor caused her to volunteer for a new assignment last year—one that has fueled her passion to advocate for new teachers. Because of her responsibilities as a partial-release mentor, Jean was scheduled to teach only three periods this year. Last spring she told her principal that keeping her classroom wasn’t fair. Jean volunteered to be a floating teacher, a hardship normally delegated to new teachers. “My principal looked at me uncertainly, but I thought, how hard could it be?” After all, Jean has twenty years of experience, works closely with a co-teacher, and is well respected at her school. “I can’t believe how naive I was.” The first day of school Jean pushed her cart out of her office, and immediately felt demeaned. “I wasn’t expecting this. I had never thought of floating teachers as inferior, but that’s the way I felt.” Jean continued out to the portable buildings where math classes were held. “I hit the ramp and stuff was bouncing off the cart. When I got to the classroom, I had to wait outside while the students came flooding out. When I tried to go across the threshold, the cart stopped and everything on it kept going. It was horrible.” Most disturbing to Jean was the loss of instructional time. She discovered as a floating teacher, she could no longer teach bell-to-bell. She had to wait for the previous class to exit before she could enter the classroom and then it took precious minutes while she wrote lesson objectives on the board and passed out materials. Even though students were assigned a warm up, she wasn’t available to assess prior knowledge. Jean and her co-teacher, Nancy Tabor, did a survey of teachers and administrators with floating experience and found that they lose an average of eight minutes a class period, or more than 28 days of instruction a year. Jean also realized that with the rush to get set up for class, she wasn’t at the door greeting students. “That’s how you build rapport,” she said. “And it wasn’t happening.” As the semester went on, Jean felt disorganized and ineffective. The three-tier flimsy cart became the enemy and her students weren’t far behind. “My students didn’t like me and I wasn’t liking them much, either. I seriously considered moving up my retirement date.” Over a long weekend, Jean’s husband, tired of hearing her complain about her cart, challenged her to do something about it. “I didn’t want to end my teaching career on a sour note,” Jean said. “I didn’t feel successful and that’s what makes any teacher quit. If I was a new teacher, I doubt that I would have returned. “ Jean and Nancy discussed what they could do to salvage the year. The cart was the first thing to go. They bought a sturdy cart from a hardware store and outfitted it with whiteboards, a wireless laptop, and an active slate. The cart allows Jean to pre-stage her lessons, walk into the classroom with a minimal loss of instructional time, and greet students at the door. Jean also realized she needed to get out of the portable buildings. Nancy looked around the school for rooms that fit their teaching style. They needed rooms inside the main building, preferably with two doors, and with aisles wide enough to accommodate their “floating classroom.” They found rooms on the English wing. “It’s made a huge difference,” Jean said. “But what new teacher would have the audacity to go looking for rooms on their own and outside of their discipline? New teachers don’t have that kind of voice, but I do.” Jean decided not to retire but to continue another year as a floating teacher. “Sending a new teacher out to float is a suicide mission,” said Jean. “If they survive, it’s only because they don’t know how it should be.” She is determined to document her insights regarding the minimum working conditions required for floating teachers to be effective. When Jean does retire, it will be with the knowledge that she has been a successful teacher, mentor, and advocate for new teachers. (Read more stories about other teachers' experience at: http://www.newteachercenter.org/success_stories.php#jean)

Evidence of Impact Summary:

The New Teacher Center is praised for improving teacher readiness, enhancing the quality of their teaching, and reducing turnover.
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Organization Strengths Summary:

Multiple experts consider leadership a strength. Others note fundraising, collaboration, and program design as additional assets.
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Areas for Improvement Summary:

Experts worry about growth in terms bench depth, enhancing operations, and achieving scalability.
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Ellen Moir is Executive Director of the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) New Teacher Center, a national resource for high-quality new teacher and new administrator induction programs. The New Teacher Center conducts research, develops and administers induction programs, and consults with organizations, education leaders, and policymakers nationwide on issues related to new educator support. Moir served for 15 years as Director of the Santa Cruz New Teacher Project, a beginning teacher induction program that has supported more than 12,000 beginning teachers during the first two years of their careers. She also served 15 years as UCSC Director of Teacher Education. Moir has authored several book chapters related to induction and produced video documentaries on teacher induction and bilingual education. Her work in induction has been supported by various private foundations as well as the National Science Foundation.

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