Surveying your new teacher program: a plan for the year

Feature Spotlights

Teacher Mentorship & Induction

Three short surveys, timed to the moments that matter, to support each new teacher, keep mentoring on track, and show what your program is achieving.

Your new teachers' first year sets the tone for everything after it. Induction programs put time and resources into mentoring, PD and coaching, but it's hard to know what's working while there's still time to adjust.

KickUp's new teacher survey templates give you a clear read at three points in the year: what each new teacher needs from day one, how they're growing by mid-year, and whether the program itself is working. Each one is ready to preview and launch in KickUp Surveys.

Start of year

New Teacher Intake

Named

Each teacher's starting point and support needs, plus what you need to make strong mentor matches.

December–January

Mid-Year Check-in

Named

Growth since intake, who's struggling, and where to focus mentoring for the rest of the year.

May

Year-End Program Feedback

Anonymous

An honest read on which supports are working and what to change for next year's cohort.

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1. Start with the Intake survey

At a glance

New teachers share where they feel confident, where support would help most, and how they'd like to work with a mentor. It gives every teacher a baseline and gives your coordinator what they need to make strong mentor matches.

10 minutesto complete

New teachersFirst-year and new to district

NamedUsed for support, not evaluation

Start of yearBefore or just after day one

What it gets you

→Stronger mentor matches, based on schedules, subjects and common ground

→A baseline for each teacher across 14 instructional and operational areas

→Where support is needed most, from instruction to school systems

→How connected they feel from the very start

What your results look like

What you might discoverEach new teacher's areas of need, preferences and interests. Your coordinator can use them to pair each teacher with a mentor who's strong where they need help and shares their schedule.

Intake responses, by teacherIllustrative data

New teacher	Needs support with	Preferred support	Prefers to meet	Outside of work
Ms. RiveraFirst year · Grade 3	Classroom routinesCommunicating with families	EmotionalInstructional	Planning periodAsync	Running, community theater
Mr. ChenTaught before · HS Math	Navigating school systemsDifferentiating instruction	Institutional	Before school	Robotics club, hiking
Ms. BrooksFirst year · MS Science	Managing student behaviorLesson planning	InstructionalPhysical	Planning period	Gardening, podcasts
Mr. DiazFirst year · Grade 1	Formative assessmentClassroom routines	InstructionalEmotional	Mix of in-person and virtual	Soccer coach, cooking

What you might discoverNavigating school and district systems is the lowest-confidence area for first-year teachers and for experienced teachers new to the district, so it belongs in every new teacher's first month.

Confidence at the start of the yearIllustrative data

First year teaching

Taught before

Classroom routines and procedures

48%

81%

Managing student behavior

35%

66%

Lesson planning and pacing

52%

84%

Formative assessment and checking for understanding

39%

72%

Differentiating for diverse learners

31%

58%

Communicating with families

46%

70%

Navigating school/district systems and expectations

29%

33%

Lower Higher

What you might discoverMost new teachers want to meet during their planning period, so matching mentors with overlapping planning time makes meetings far more likely to happen.

How would you prefer to connect with a mentor? Select all that apply.

During my planning period

52 (34.2%)

A mix of in-person and virtual

19 (12.5%)

Before school

19 (12.5%)

Async (email, messaging, shared docs)

18 (11.8%)

During lunch

15 (9.9%)

Virtually in the evening

15 (9.9%)

After school

14 (9.2%)

Total responses 84

Illustrative data.

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2. Check in at mid-year

At a glance

Teachers answer the same confidence questions as the intake, plus how their year is going and what would help now. Because it's named, you can see each teacher's growth and follow up with anyone who's struggling.

8–10 minutesto complete

New teachersSame group as intake

NamedUsed for support, not evaluation

December–JanuaryWith time left to adjust

What it gets you

→Growth since intake, for each teacher and the cohort

→Who needs a check-in, before small struggles become big ones

→The next mentoring focus for each teacher

→What's helping, in teachers' own words

What your results look like

What you might discoverClassroom routines and navigating school systems grew the most since the start of the year, while differentiation and communicating with families barely moved. That's the next mentoring focus.

Confidence: start of year vs. mid-yearIllustrative data

Start of year

Mid-year

Classroom routines and procedures

48%

74%

Managing student behavior

35%

47%

Lesson planning and pacing

52%

66%

Formative assessment and checking for understanding

39%

55%

Differentiating for diverse learners

31%

36%

Communicating with families

46%

49%

Navigating school/district systems and expectations

29%

57%

Lower Higher

What you might discoverElementary teachers report the strongest start, while high school teachers trail on both how their year is going and how connected they feel. Opening the high school results shows four teachers who say it's been really hard, and because the check-in is named, the coordinator can reach out to each of them this week.

How it's going

Grouped by School level Top %Avg

Questions	All	Elementary	Middle school	High school
Overall, how is your year going?	62% (52)	69% (25)	59% (13)	54% (14)
How connected do you feel to your school community?	58% (49)	67% (24)	55% (12)	46% (12)

Overall, how is your year going?

High school

RubricResponses

Top %14 (54%)

Going really well3 (11.5%)

Mostly going well11 (42.3%)

Hard, but I'm getting by8 (30.8%)

It's been really hard4 (15.4%)

Total responses 26

Illustrative data. "Top %" is the share answering Going really well or Mostly going well.

What you might discoverClassroom management and lesson planning time are the most common barriers. Teachers want to see strategies modeled in classrooms like theirs.

For the areas you picked, what's getting in the way, or what kind of support would help?

Themes at a glanceAI

Themes are automatically identified by AI and update as new responses come in.

ChartSummary

Managing student behavior

27 (32.1%)

Planning takes too long

19 (22.6%)

Mixed-readiness classes

15 (17.9%)

Knowing who to ask

11 (13.1%)

Communicating with families

7 (8.3%)

Other

5 (6.0%)

Responses

Managing student behavior

I can plan a good lesson, but I lose ten minutes every period getting everyone settled. I'd love to watch someone who makes that look easy.

Illustrative data.

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3. Close the year with Program Feedback

At a glance

A short, anonymous survey about the program itself: which supports changed teaching, how mentoring is working, and what to change for next year's cohort. Results are shared only districtwide, so new teachers can be candid.

8–10 minutesto complete

New teachersAbout 10 or more districtwide

AnonymousHonest input on the program

MayBefore next year's planning

What it gets you

→Which supports change practice, from mentoring to PD

→How well mentoring is working, without singling anyone out

→Whether they'd recommend the program to a colleague starting out

→Clear priorities for next year's program

What your results look like

What you might discoverObserving other teachers changes practice most for both groups. Teachers new to teaching get the most from mentor meetings, while experienced teachers new to the district get more from planning with their team. Induction sessions lag for both, a case for shifting some of that time to classroom visits.

What's made a difference

Grouped by Is this your first year teaching? Top %Avg

What effect has each of these had on your teaching this year?	All	New to teaching	New to district
Observing other teachers	75% (53)	78% (36)	70% (18)
Mentor meetings	66% (47)	74% (34)	52% (13)
Having my classroom observed, with feedback	66% (47)	70% (32)	58% (14)
Planning with my team or PLC	52% (37)	45% (21)	66% (16)
Coaching	60% (43)	64% (29)	52% (13)
New teacher PD or induction sessions	28% (20)	33% (15)	19% (5)

Illustrative data. "Top %" is the share answering "Changed what I do" or "Changed what my students do."

What you might discoverMentoring is easy to reach, but its focus lags: only about half say mentoring time centers on what they need most. Tying mentor agendas to mid-year check-in results is an easy fix.

Mentoring: % Usually or Almost alwaysIllustrative data

This year

I can get help from mentoring when I need it

82%

Mentoring time focuses on what I need most

54%

I leave with ideas I can use right away

63%

I feel comfortable being honest about what's hard

71%

Lower Higher

What you might discoverThe top request for next year is more time to observe experienced teachers, followed by earlier help with school systems.

What's one change that would make the program more useful for next year's new teachers?

Themes at a glanceAI

Themes are automatically identified by AI and update as new responses come in.

ChartSummary

More time to observe is the most common request, in 24 of 71 responses (34%): teachers want structured visits to experienced teachers' classrooms, especially in the first semester.
Systems help earlier (17 responses) asks for gradebook, attendance and procedures training before the first day, not during it.
Protected mentor time (13 responses) asks for mentor meetings built into the schedule rather than squeezed in.

Responses

More time to observe

The two times I watched another teacher were the most useful hours of my year. I'd trade most of the after-school sessions for more of those.

Illustrative data.

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4. Show the impact of your program

Put together, the three surveys tell a clear story for your cabinet and board: how much new teachers grew, how much support they got, and whether it worked. Mentor hours logged in KickUp add the support side automatically, and if you also run Conditions for Educator Success, you can see how new teachers' experience compares with everyone else's.

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Quick tips for running it well:‍

Keep the topics identical

Customize freely to your practice language, then use the same topics and scale on the intake and the mid-year check-in, so growth is easy to see for each teacher and the cohort.

Log mentor meetings in KickUp

Meeting frequency comes straight from the logs, so you don't have to ask teachers, and you can spot pairs that aren't connecting.

Keep the year-end survey truly anonymous

Share results districtwide, so new teachers can be candid without being identifiable.

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Where to start this year

Already past the start of the year? Run the Mid-Year Check-in as your baseline and the Year-End Program Feedback in May. Next August, start the full cycle with the Intake, so next year's cohort can build on it from day one.

Preview the new teacher templates at pulse.kickup.co/surveys, or reach out to your KickUp CSM for guidance.

Surveying your new teacher program: a plan for the year

1. Start with the Intake survey

What your results look like

2. Check in at mid-year

What your results look like

3. Close the year with Program Feedback

What your results look like

4. Show the impact of your program

Quick tips for running it well:‍

Where to start this year

Let's get started

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