Ritz discusses mentoring, financial incentives as ways to improve teaching profession

Ritz told a roomful of future and current educators gathered at Indiana University Kokomo on Tuesday that the commission’s recommendations will address their concerns about professional development for educators, mentoring for new teachers and providing more incentives to pursue careers in education.

“We have to be sure we have quality educators in our classrooms, we have to make sure we’re filling all the gaps, and we have to be systematic about it,” Ritz said of the 49-person Blue Ribbon Commission's focus. The commission will meet again this month and for the final time in December before submitting its recommendations, some of which may lead to legislative action in the 2016 session.

Ritz was the keynote speaker at IUK’s fall education conference on Tuesday, which drew IUK education students, professors, administrators and area educators. She gave an update on the state’s A to F grades, which will be impacted this year by a drop in scores on the new version of the ISTEP students took in 2015; proposed changes to high school diplomas; and new regulations on how teachers are certified to teach dual credit courses.

Each topic Ritz touched on tied into the broader conversation taking place across the state about the current state of the teaching profession – and whether negative attitudes toward teachers coming from lawmakers, the public and even teachers themselves have contributed to the recent drop-off in people entering the profession.

“Educators have just figured out that they are government employees, so state government has a say in how you get paid and how you are in your profession,” Ritz said. “You may work for a school district, but politics is in your life.”

Ritz said she intends to make education a focus of political conversation going into the 2016 election, and she encouraged teachers to use their political influence to make positive change.

One factor in attracting and retaining teachers is compensation, and Ritz expects the Blue Ribbon Commission to propose incentive packages for teachers in high-demand fields like math or science.

She also thinks more support in the form of mentoring for new teachers would help them to be more effective and also more likely to stay in the profession. Every group within the Blue Ribbon Commission had mentoring at the top of their list, Ritz added.

“We put in place – without a mentoring system – an evaluation system that expects our first-year teachers to be effective or highly effective right from the start,” she said, adding that those high expectations should come with support.

Ritz would like to see higher education involved in the mentoring process to help prospective teachers learn through experience how to manage a classroom and meet the needs of children.

“We have needy students and relationship building has to happen between the students and the teachers in order to get the learning in your classrooms,” she said.

Also the commission has discussed how to offer more professional development opportunities for teachers, as Ritz noted that the state budget does not provide funding to offer educators professional development.

“Should there be monies allotted at the state? Absolutely. Being a teacher is kind of like being a doctor. You always have to be up on what kids need to be learning, and you need professional development to keep that going,” Ritz said, adding that she thinks teachers should pursue ongoing education themselves too. “I am a firm advocate for teachers taking ownership of what their profession is, not waiting on somebody else to give it to them.”

Kayla Lamb and Amanda Chesshir, both first-year elementary teachers who graduated from IUK, appreciated Ritz’s student-focused take on education policy.

“It’s really nice to hear someone saying that local schools need to be supported,” Lamb said.

Lamb decided in high school she wanted to be a teacher after she worked in a classroom as a cadet teacher. Some of her teachers tried to dissuade her from entering the profession, saying the demands are high and the compensation low, but that didn’t change her mind.

“I fell in love with kids and seeing a lightbulb moment when a kid doesn’t understand a subject and then you teach them and they get it,” said Lamb, who works at Swayzee Elementary School.

Ritz assured Lamb and the prospective teacher candidates at IUK that they are entering a worthwhile profession.

“Thank you. Thank you so much,” she told them. “You’re entering in a time that I hope the profession itself is going to start having a more positive approach to what it is that you’re going to be doing.”