Welcome to the Illinois Induction Guide!
This guide is a resource for school districts, individual schools, administrators, mentors, universities, ROEs, and others who want to provide structured support for beginning teachers.
How to Use this Guide
This Induction Guide has been developed for an Illinois context and for induction programs at every stage of development. It is organized around the nine standards of the Illinois Induction Program Continuum. Each standard includes free downloadable resources that programs can use or adapt to their own needs.
It is not necessary to read this Induction Guide sequentially from Standard 1 through Standard 9; instead, programs are encouraged to begin reading wherever is most relevant to their current situation. To start, click on the relevant standard on the menu bar above.
Induction programs that are just starting are encouraged to begin with the StartUp Guide.
Although all examples are from within Illinois, the advice and suggestions of the Induction Guide would apply to induction/mentoring programs in other states.
Background
This Induction Guide was created by a collaborative team of induction experts from across Illinois during 2012-13. It was created to meet the need in Illinois for state-specific induction information, applicable to all programs—whether run by districts, ROEs, ISCs, universities, consortia, or other support providers.
Induction and Mentoring
Induction is structured support across a beginning teacher’s formative first years in the classroom, designed to increase retention, help teachers become more effective more quickly, and improve student outcomes.
Induction includes mentoring, professional development, and whole-school supports for beginning teachers, tied to best practices and district improvement plans.
Induction is situated at the heart of the school and district community and is an integral part of all other initiatives. Induction thrives best in a positive school culture, and will not in itself cure problems that stem from a negative school environment.
