Major Citigroup provides resources to help improve new teacher retention in Santa Barbara County

We owe a great deal of thanks to the Citigroup Foundation for having the foresight and good judgment to make a major difference for new teachers in our community.

To address Santa Barbara County’s critical need for new teacher support and to encourage more new teachers to stay in the profession longer, the Citigroup Foundation has partnered with my office on the New Teacher Resource Program.

Citigroup is the sole sponsor of the program in California, awarding an overall grant of $144,900 to date, which will benefit seven educational entities throughout the state. Since January 2003, the Citigroup Foundation has awarded more than $1 million in grants to support education programs in California.

We are extremely grateful to Citigroup for providing the funding that has enabled us to support new teachers in those critical first two years.

Our BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment) induction programs have already made an enormous difference in this area. We know that we lose a lot of talented, capable individuals in those first few years if we do not give them support like the kind they receive through BTSA. The resource materials provided by Citigroup make a real difference in supporting those efforts in a major way.

Through the New Teacher Resource Program, new teachers throughout Santa Barbara County received excellent support materials, including a New Teachers Handbook, a Successful Teaching Practices CD-ROM, and access to online courses that are aligned with topics covered in the handbook. At the beginning of the school year, all participating teachers in Santa Barbara County attended an orientation seminar where these materials were distributed.

Dr. Lynne Cavazos, director of the BTSA program run through our office, coordinates the program in California. She piloted the program with six educational entities in California last year:  the Santa Barbara County Education Office (SBCEO), Compton Unified, Los Angeles County Office of Education, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified, San Jose Unified, and Santa Clara County Office of Education. This year, a seventh site has been added:  the Sacramento County Office of Education.

“The shortage of top-notch teachers is a critical issue facing many California school systems,” said Michael Weitzman, president of Citibank West, a member of Citigroup. “We believe supporting the development of new teachers on the job is a smart investment that will result in higher teacher retention rates and improved student achievement.”

As part of the New Teacher Resource Program, new teachers have access to five online courses essential to their success:  Classroom Management; Aligning Standards, Curriculum & Assessment; Strategic Planning; Families as Partners; and Teaching Methods. The courses are available from a teacher’s home or school computer. They are supplemented by a New Teachers Handbook and several videos. The CD-ROM set, Successful Teaching Practices in Action, was also provided to them through this grant.

The Santa Barbara County BTSA Induction Program serves all 23 school districts in the county, plus SBCEO.

“We anticipate serving approximately 200 new teachers each year for the next couple of years,” explained Dr. Cavazos. “The aim is to develop caring, competent, and qualified teachers for every student attending school within the county.” The retention rate for BTSA participating teachers in this county is about 95 percent.