C&I Feature

Illinois New Teacher Collaborative (INTC) Coordinates Statewide Teacher Retention Initiative

As many as 50 percent of all new school teachers, and up to 75 percent of new teachers in the Chicago Public Schools, quit within five years, according to some reports.  This teacher turnover costs Illinois an estimated quarter-million dollars per year in recruiting and training expenses.  But the biggest loss is to overall student learning, which suffers when experienced educators dismiss themselves from class.

In 2004, a group of Illinois educators, administrators, business leaders, and other stakeholders in the education of Illinois children convened to focus on the best way to address the challenges faced by today’s public schools.  All agreed that supporting and retaining the state’s teachers were crucial to maintaining and providing quality education in Illinois.  As a result, the Illinois New Teacher Collaborative (INTC) was created.  More than 30 groups participate in and support the INTC.  It is funded in part by a grant from the State Farm Companies Foundation.  The University of Illinois College of Education in Urbana-Champaign provides office facilities as well as technological and staff support and services.

(“We are so pleased not only with the College’s support of the INTC but also with the ready involvement and contributions of partners across the state that have facilitated the program’s continued growth and improvement in services,” says Renée Clift, INTC Director and Professor in the College of Education.) 

Interest and participation in the INTC programs have grown rapidly in the short three years since its inception.  Attendance doubled at the INTC’s second annual statewide induction and mentoring conference.  About 500 people are expected to attend the conference scheduled for February 26 and 27, 2008, at the Hilton-Springfield.

Beyond the annual conferences many more take advantage of the online services and resources available to them on the INTC web site, http://intc.ed.uiuc.edu.   Open to all Illinois educators, the site allows access to online discussion groups and forums with an array of data and information on topics pertinent to new teachers and mentors. 

Recently, the INTC Web site unveiled a new look with improved services to meet better the needs and requests of the site’s registered users.   Further web site enhancements are planned to allow its expansion as a professional development and networking center for teachers, administrators, and others interested and involved in supporting new teachers.

Additionally, INTC partners worked with others across Illinois to gain legislative approval of state funding for a statewide Beginning Teacher Induction Pilot Program.  In 2006, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) funded ten pilot projects, selected to represent a variety of characteristics and demographics, such as school size and location, average income, grade levels, and subject matter taught by the targeted teachers.

Increasedl funding in 2008 will allow for the program’s expansion and a significant increase in the number of educators served through the funding of additional pilot projects.

For further information about the Illinois New Teacher Collaborative (INTC) based at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, visit http://intc.ed.uiuc.edu; by phone at 217-244-7389, or email at intc@uiuc.edu