It’s inarguable that teachers are experts on what their students need. So how can school administrators leverage that expertise to make professional learning collaborative rather than top-down? Matt Griesinger, Assistant Principal of Northwest Education Services Career Tech and author of the recent article “How Administrators Can Make Professional Learning More Collaborative,” walks us through the nitty-gritty of the three-tiered peer learning process that transformed North Ed’s PD landscape, plus administrators’ role in giving educators a voice in their own learning, and practical strategies for collecting expertise already present in the school building.

Heading into fall 2022, nearly 7% of teaching positions in North Dakota were unfilled. Between attracting young talent and retaining career professionals, a teacher shortage crisis in a rural state can be particularly challenging — but North Dakota's Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) found a way.

In this episode of The Best Of Us, we sat down with Dr. Karen DeMoss, Executive Director of Prepared To Teach. We started out discussing the barriers to high quality teacher preparation, the misconceptions in understanding student work, and the importance of seeing students struggle via local teacher preparation programs rather than just thinking about it in the classroom. Karen then went on to share her thoughts on key considerations in designing new teacher induction programs, why co-teaching is such an effective way to grow aspiring teachers, and advice on how to maximize the impact of co-teaching.

What is the impact of early-career support on overall teacher retention? What considerations go into pairing veteran mentors with new-to-the-classroom mentees? How do great teacher-mentors bring out the best in their colleagues? Which supports do new teachers value most? What are the indicators that an induction program is working? We explore these topics and more with Tonya Dixon, professional learning specialist at Cypress-Fairbanks ISD and director of the district’s new teacher induction program, one of the largest in the country. Tonya has held various leadership positions at Cypress-Fairbanks ISD over the past 14 years, and taught at the district for 10 years prior.