Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST)
Program Contact
Erin Dorso
Program Coordinator for Teacher Induction and Mentoring
edorso@wwps.org
(509) 526-6782 (office)
Program Brochure and Handbook
What is BEST?
We are the Beginning Educator Support Team (BEST). Our team is made up of people across the district, in every building, who work together to support teachers new to the profession and new to our district. BEST Walla Walla includes administrators, teacher mentors, building buddies, demonstration classroom teachers, and other stakeholders across WWPS who want to help new teachers and their students be successful.
What is Beginning Teacher Induction?
Teacher induction at Walla Walla Public Schools strives to provide a comprehensive, coherent, and sustained support system for beginning educators and guide them into a lifetime of teaching and learning.
The goals of teacher induction are:
1. Reduce teacher turnover
2. Improve teacher quality for student learning
3. Ensure equity of learning opportunity for all students
4. Help build a diverse teaching force
Walla Walla Public Schools measures, adapts, and refines its teacher induction using the Standards for Beginning Teacher Induction (Center for Strengthening the Teaching Profession, 2018). Those standards include considerations around hiring, orientation, mentoring, professional learning, formative assessment for teacher growth, and collecting evidence of impact.
For details about the Standards for Beginning Teacher Induction and Washington’s Beginning Educator Support Team, please click here: http://www.k12.wa.us/BEST/
How do mentors support beginning teachers in WWPS?
The Beginning Educator Mentoring Program is a key element of our comprehensive induction system for early career teachers. Having a trustworthy, non-evaluative relationship with a mentor who is specially trained in mentoring skills and committed to supporting our newest faculty is an important part of supporting new teachers and their students in feeling successful. Our mentors are classroom teachers situated within each building to provide “just in time” information, observations and feedback for growth, and a listening ear. All first- and second-year teachers will have access to the mentoring program, including a 1:1 mentor and enrollment in a professional learning community.