Research consistently shows that teachers have the greatest potential to influence children’s education. Minnesota is recognized nationally for high quality educators. To maintain and improve this quality, we need to be proactive in supporting the preparation, induction, and ongoing professional development of our teachers and other school-based educators. The children of Minnesota deserve our attention to the quality of their educators.

To help all Minnesota school districts and other educational institutions envision a system of supports for early career educators and those who are in career transition, a partnership among several Minnesota educational institutions was established in 2006. The Teacher Support Partnership (TSP) currently has representation from Education Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, and the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Members of this partnership believe that all initial educators and educators in transition should have access to comprehensive induction supports that will help them be more effective educators for Minnesota’s children.

Many school districts across the state have embraced the challenge of creating induction opportunities. Even in the face of declining resources and rapidly changing demographics, educators in urban and suburban schools, large and small districts, traditional and charter schools, have been working to develop orientations, mentoring programs, and other professional learning opportunities for Minnesota’s educators. But all of Minnesota’s educators do not yet have access to high quality induction opportunities—and some have no access at all.  One of the goals of the TSP was to develop this set of guidelines and resources for developing and sustaining comprehensive, multi-year induction systems that can accelerate initial educators’ professional growth.

In collaboration with teams of P-12 teacher leaders and higher education partners from across the state, TSP has developed the Minnesota Educator Induction Guidelines which provide a framework for developing a comprehensive induction system for all educators in Minnesota.  The Minnesota Educator Induction Guidelines provide a framework for developing induction systems for all educators in Minnesota. Professional induction provides professional learning opportunities for developing dispositions and practices that support student learning. The system includes learning opportunities such as orientations to the workplace, a network of peer support, seminars and workshops, and mentoring focused on standards of professional practice and continual professional growth. Induction is a multi-year process of professional learning targeted at significant career transitions. Ultimately, the goals of an induction system are to improve the quality of education for all students by improving the quality of Minnesota’s educators.