New Teachers' Network: A University-Based Support System for Educators in Urban and Suburban 'Ethnic Minority' School Districts

The Hofstra University New Teachers' Network offers a multifaceted approach to university-based support for new teachers that also enhances the experience of students in its preservice teacher education program. This model is rooted in relationships that develop during preservice teacher education programs and has been successful at recruiting and sustaining new teachers for inner-city urban and suburban minority schools. It is separate from district and school-based teacher development programs connected to hierarchical systems of supervision and bureaucratic constraints. It is maintained through interconnections between university and secondary school classrooms, peer mentoring, regular support meetings, conferences, e-mail contact, and involvement in professional activities. The model recognizes the significance of teacher learning, the creation of teacher knowledge, the situational and social nature of cognition, and the importance of discourse communities in shaping learning experiences that are powerful enough to transform a teacher's classroom practice. At its core is recognition of the vital role played by long term supportive relationships among teachers and among teachers and mentors in the process of teacher development. The university professors, new teachers, and mentors who are part of the Hofstra University New Teachers' Network believe this program offers real possibilities for strengthening the teaching profession and improving the quality of education in urban and minority schools.