Beginning Teacher Panel – Reality Check for GSTEP

GSTEP is about supporting beginning teachers in their development from students into accomplished teachers. Appropriately, a group of nine beginning teachers from partner districts are serving as reality check, council and guide for the work of GSTEP.

The Beginning Teachers Panel, a segment of the Induction Team, was originally designed to act only as a focus group for the online BRIDGE. It was quickly recognized that the BRIDGE wasn’t the only effort that needed the input of beginning teachers. They were invaluable to realize GSTEP’s belief that its work must be grounded in the authentic experiences of the people designed to use it – beginning teachers.

"When the panel got together for the first time, we saw the tremendous possibilities and resources in the teachers that we had brought together,” said Dr. Sally Hudson Ross, professor in Language Education and co-chair of the Induction Team. “We decided, almost on the spot, that teachers would be the filter that we put many aspects of GSTEP through, such as the Framework.”

Spending a working day with the panel shows why the Induction Team made its quick decision. As the panel thoughtfully critiqued assessment indicators for the BRIDGE the teachers’ enthusiasm for their career, their students, and GSTEP was apparent. And this enthusiasm is being taken back to their schools.

"When teachers at my school ask me where I am going and I have to explain what GSTEP is and what it is doing, their first reaction is always ‘wow, that is really cool that there is something going on like that out there,’” said Heather Walsh, panel member and second grade teacher at Oglethorpe County Primary School.

For many of the teachers, the panel provides them with the chance to comment on programs designed for beginning teachers, a valuable opportunity for a voice that is often overlooked in education.

“Beginning teacher voices often get lost, just because they don’t know as much as veteran teachers and…they are wrapped up in their own frustrations that they don’t have time to…voice other ideas or concerns,” said Sarah Fearington Chastain eighth grade language arts teacher at Oconee County Middle School. “It’s great to have an outlet for frustrations and positive [ideas].”

Professional development is also a key component to the panel. The teachers are able to voice their ideas about their profession and their growth as teachers, without repercussions. Elizabeth Wiley, eighth grade language arts and Georgia Studies teacher in Barrow County, spoke for many on the panel when she said, “This is one of the first groups where we are not supposed to be proving what we know, or how good we are at what we do, but we are actually supposed to be talking about what we don’t know.”

Since their first meeting in October 2002 the panel has provided vital critiques of the assessment component of the online BRIDGE that subsequently guided the conversations at the Expert Panel meeting on assessment in Perry, Georgia. At the Beginning Teachers panel’s second meeting on February 24 in Athens, the teachers tackled more assessment indicators, reviewed a proposal for a grant to support mentoring, and are looking forward to reviewing more of the BRIDGE and the GSTEP framework

“The Panel is here and ready to take on more projects for review,” said Debby Wood and Mindee Dunagan, both teachers and co-chairs of the panel. “This is a dynamic group of teachers that is helping GSTEP bridge the gap between the university and the teachers in the classroom.”

If your GSTEP team would like to submit an item to the Beginning Teacher Panel for review, please contact Debby Wood or Mindee Dunagan at gstep@coe.uga.edu to get on the panel agenda.

—Erin O'Donnell