Honoring Outstanding New Teacher Induction Programs

NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award

Is your induction program helping new teachers excel? And keeping them in the profession? Share your success story with other educators. Apply now for the NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award.

For the past several years, the NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Awards have focused exclusively on partnerships aimed at mentoring new teachers.

In 2006, the criteria for the Partnership Awards will be expanded to recognize joint efforts by school districts and local associations that together provide high quality new teacher induction programs -- systematic programs of support and professional development for beginning teachers that occur during their first two to three years of teaching.

The 2006 NEA-Saturn-UAW Partnership Awards will recognize comprehensive induction programs that contain high quality mentoring AND at least two additional components from the list below:

• Appropriate staffing for beginning teachers
  
• Common planning time
  
• Ongoing professional development
  
• Access to an external network of teachers
  
• Standards-based evaluation

Since 1997, the NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award has recognized over 100 school districts and their union locals for exemplary partnership efforts in pursuit of quality education.

As in previous years, the 2006 Partnership Award will honor "best practices" programs that have been created and sustained through the joint efforts of the school district and the union, and have resulted in substantially assisting new teachers in their educator careers. 

Six winners will be recognized during the NEA Board of Directors meeting at the start of the 2006 Representative Assembly (RA) in Orlando, Florida, and also in their home districts. In addition, winners will be invited to visit with Saturn and UAW during American Education Week in November 2006.

To read brief descriptions of previous winning NEA programs, see the 2003 winners, 2004 winners, and the 2005 winners. 

For more information and an application form, see the Partnership Award.

Applications are due March 3, 2006.