As new teachers embark on their journey of professional growth, they will certainly encounter successes and dilemmas. The New Teacher Center has developed a set of tools and processes, the NTC Formative Assessment System (FAS), designed to link new teacher learning and mentoring. Together, the novice and veteran teacher identify accomplishments and challenges, and connect the work to professional areas for growth as well as student academic needs.

"Margaret has provided me with great ideas from her years of teaching multi-age classes. She asks about my specific concerns, helps me find ways to address them, and has provided teaching materials from her own collection for me to use, a wonderful resource for me way out here."

—Brooke Staton,
Principal Teacher
St. George Island School
Pribilof School District

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Each formative assessment tool is essential and simultaneously supports mentoring and the advancement of beginning teacher practice. The tools are designed to be embedded in the teachers' day-to-day practice in order to become a natural part of their on-going professional thinking and learning. They are also intended to provide structured opportunities for experienced teachers to share their knowledge and expertise with novices, based upon the data they have collected together.

The FAS encourages curiosity and inquiry, teaching and learning about practice for both the mentor and the new teacher. The goal and the vision is that as beginning teachers exit their induction programs, they are committed to engage in the sort of reflective, collaborative inquiry that the mentor has modeled and practiced with the support of FAS. Convinced that new teachers contribute to the profession in very important ways, the NTC is dedicated to building a system of support and professional development for all teachers.

The NTC FAS guides beginning teachers as they develop teaching practices, habits, and skills that ensure the cultivation of highly qualified and effective teachers. As illustrated by the graphic above, FAS is a series of collaborative processes characterized by a consistent focus on student learning. Mentors work with individual new teachers to collect and analyze multiple data sources as they reflect upon and assess the teacher's classroom practice. A variety of carefully designed tools are used to structure the mentor-beginning teacher interactions and support each beginning teacher's development in relation to professional teaching standards. The focus, process, and pacing of each FAS tool is determined collaboratively by the mentor and beginning teacher in light of the teacher's individual needs.