Teaching on an emergency permit is a lot like trying to stay alive on the television show Survivor.
In a worst-case scenario, you are stranded in the wilderness - or urban jungle - without training, survival strategies or supplies. You are unlikely to win immunity from school administrators for any mistakes you make because, as an at-will employee, you have no due-process rights. Your only hope is that a group of your peers will form an alliance to offer you some support.
Erwin Miller explains functions in his math class at Del Vallejo Middle School in San Bernardino.
The key to survival is learning classroom management skills, say both emergency permit holders and veteran teachers who support them. If a classroom is out of control, it is impossible for learning to take place.
"You have someone who's young or someone older who's left the professional world, and he or she goes into teaching thinking it's easy," says Jerry Motto, a member of the San Bernardino Teachers Association (SBTA). "Most of these teachers have pretty good subject knowledge, but they do not have classroom management techniques. They are clueless, and are totally taken aback by what they find in the classroom. Culture shock is a big thing for them. They can't understand the disrespect, profanity and things they see - especially in junior high or high school."
They also have problems with supplies and curriculum, says Motto, a consulting teacher with San Bernardino's Peer Assistance/Review (PAR) program who works with emergency permit teachers. "They don't get the textbooks until they're hired, which is usually the week before school opens. They don't have a clue as to how to develop a lesson plan. They have no teaching strategies. It's almost like being thrown into a den of lions without a whip or a chair."
Without adequate support, it's no wonder so many inexperienced teachers flee in horror.
It's not supposed to be that way. As a condition for employing teachers on emergency permits, school districts must agree to provide them with "orientation, guidance and assistance." In reality, however, that can range from "good luck" and a pat on the back or a one-hour seminar to actual support programs where novices work closely with veteran teachers on a regular basis.
According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC), "The orientation must include curriculum training, effective techniques of classroom instruction and effective techniques of classroom management. This training should occur prior to the individual being placed in the classroom. The emergency permit regulations also require the employing district to assign an experienced educator to guide and assist the emergency permit holder."
"To be honest, some districts do a better job of this than others," says Marilyn Errett, a consultant at the CCTC. "We are sending out letters to districts that have 20 percent or more emergency permit teachers, encouraging them to get involved in a support program of some kind, such as an internship program or pre-internship program."
It can be a wise investment, notes Errett, since the state contributes $2,500 per year for interns, and $2,000 per year for pre-interns, with districts or universities paying matching funds.
Consulting teacher Jerry Motto observes as Erwin Miller checks seventh-grader Cathy Tran's solution to a math problem.
Intern programs are designed to help train new teachers while they teach. They offer a planned course of study and support from mentor teachers, usually from a nearby university. The mentors observe them in the classroom and offer advice and suggestions. Intern programs may be sponsored by school districts, a consortium of school districts or universities. Presently there are 75 internship programs in the state.
Pre-internship programs serve emergency permit teachers who are not yet enrolled in a teacher preparation program and who have not demonstrated subject matter competence. Pre-internship programs help participants meet requirements to enroll in an intern program, as well as training in basic teaching skills. There are 16 pre-intern programs in California.
For students who live too far away from a college or university, or for those too busy to attend classes, CalState Teach offers an online intern program [www.calstateteach.com]. The 18-month, multiple-subject teacher preparation program, sponsored by California State University campuses in Southern California, offers instruction via Internet, video and audio materials. Students attend five Saturday seminars at regional centers.
"I love it. It allows me to work at home," says Mona Ryan, an emergency permit teacher and United Teachers Los Angeles member. "I have a 5-year-old son and teach all day. I'm a morning person, so I get up at 3 or 4 in the morning and do my class work."
She uses the program's online chat rooms to talk to other new teachers in addition to conferring with six other participants who live near her. "We usually meet for an hour over coffee," she says. "It's nice to be able to share ideas."
Some districts use PAR programs to assist emergency permit teachers, while others use money from the state's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program (BTSA).
While BTSA funds are supposed to be used only to assist beginning teachers who have credentials, some of the older BTSA programs have received permission to help uncredentialed teachers as well. Newer BTSA programs, however, are prohibited from doing so. Both PAR and BTSA programs rely on veteran teachers to observe novices in the classroom, and offer advice and support.
Support from veteran teachers makes a world of difference to those working on emergency permits or waivers. And those on the mentoring end of such programs say that it keeps new teachers from leaving the profession.
"Out of 18 new teachers I have on emergency permits, probably all but two are going to make it," says Motto. "That's not a bad percentage."
In addition to classroom observation and discussion with new teachers, Motto arranges for substitute teachers to step in to his classroom while he takes new teachers to observe outstanding teachers in other classrooms.
"Jerry has been a tremendous help to me," says Erwin Miller, an SBTA member who teaches at Del Vallejo Middle School on an emergency permit. "He helps me to prioritize what's important. He's given me resources and information. He's helped me with lesson plan designs and tells me things I can do that are good for the kids. He even helped me set up my room."
Miller, who worked for many years in the aerospace industry before becoming a math teacher, found himself in a totally different world. "I had to learn the psychology of seventh-graders at the stage where their hormones are really active and they are wondering about things. Their attention span is only 10 to 15 minutes."
At first, he felt nervous when Motto observed him in the classroom. "But then, as we talked, I found out he was really being objective and trying to help me. It's been very valuable."
Support is crucial for the large numbers of uncredentialed teachers who have taken positions in special education classes, says Laurie Schneider, a consulting teacher in the PAR program for the Westminster School District. She works with emergency permit teachers in that field. "They need everything in the way of help to work with special needs children. I want to support these people from start to finish, so they get their credentials and stay with us. It's a very wise investment."
"It's a real difficult job, and people burn out on it," adds Schneider, a member of the Westminster Teachers Association (WTA). "The rewards in special education are more difficult to get to. Children make smaller steps and there are less obvious gains. The paperwork is unending. I have a lot of respect for someone willing to take on the job, whether they have a credential or not. It's not easy."
"You aren't going to learn unless you're doing it," says WTA member Danielle Smith, who teaches a special day class at Hayden Elementary School. "I knew it was going to be a challenge, even though I worked as a teacher's aide before I was a teacher. I think I would have been overwhelmed even if I had my credential. There are so many IEPs (Individual Education Plans) to make out, and you have to assess kids as well as teach them. I feel so lucky to have the support of my district and a consulting teacher. She is always there to answer my questions. It makes a real difference."
Long Beach, which has more than 2,000 emergency permit teachers - close to a third of its teaching population - uses a combination of support services to get brand new teachers ready for prime time. Among them are BTSA and PAR, as well as intern programs with CSU-Dominguez Hills, Long Beach State and Teach for America. The district and the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB) sponsor a new teacher workshop at the beginning of the year, and there's a weeklong orientation in the summer. Rather than paying participants for the week, the district offers salary credits.
"No one can say to me that he or she is not getting help," says TALB President Cliff Kusaba. "It's here for anybody who wants it. We have new-teacher coaches, some of them on full-time release. Then we have a site coordinator to make sure all new teachers get support. Most new teachers appreciate this. Many of them say to me, 'I never thought teaching would be as difficult as it is.'"
As an incentive to get teachers on the fast track to a credential, Long Beach recently raised the starting salary of beginning credentialed teachers to $40,500 compared with $37,000 for those on emergency permits. "It's working," says Kusaba. "People are getting their credentials faster."
To get novice teachers off to a good start - both with and without credentials - the Sweetwater Education Association (SEA) and the Sweetwater Union High School District co-sponsor a summer institute the week before school starts, says SEA President Chuck Patterson. Everyone who attends the Positive Beginnings program is assigned a "support provider" (a veteran teacher) who meets with him or her on a regular basis. Participants also attend seminars and receive a copy of the state standards and other information.
"We especially encourage those teachers on emergency permits who attend Positive Beginnings to get their credential quickly," says Campbell Naismith, the lead support provider for first-year teachers. "It's one of our No. 1 talking points that they be enrolled in a credential program." The SEA member says that the assistance program, now in its fifth year, has resulted in a retention rate of 90 percent for new hires and now is a lure that attracts new teachers to the district.
The Oakland Education Association (OEA) holds monthly forums for new teachers and "rap sessions" for teachers to share their concerns. The OEA frequently offers CTA's "I Can Do It" training on classroom management.
"We are really reaching out to new teachers," says OEA President Sheila Quintana, noting that the district also offers programs where new teachers meet with veteran teachers on a regular basis.
"It makes a big difference when teachers know they are supported. In addition to support, we make sure they get supplies, acknowledgement and understanding.
"I know it may take a little time, but this way the foundation for success has been planted."
