Press Releases

For release: Monday, January 10, 2005
Additional information:
Celia Merrill
Golden Apple Foundation of NM
505.268.5337

Innovative Teacher Induction Program to Help Struggling Students

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – First year teachers and struggling students are not usually a recipe for student success. However, the Golden Apple Foundation of New Mexico, working with the Qwest Foundation, Albuquerque Public Schools and the University of New Mexico, has added some ingredients they believe will lead to an excellent program.

Qwest New Mexico President Loretta Armenta will join Golden Apple Foundation President George Friberg to present a check for $30,000 to fund the Gateway to Teaching program at 8:30 a.m. Monday, January 10, at Washington Middle School, 1101 Park Ave. SW.

Gateway to Teaching to be offered this summer through a partnership between GAFNM, APS, and the College of Education at the University of New Mexico will put two just-graduated teachers into each classroom, with every two classrooms (four new teachers) to be supervised by a Golden Apple Fellow, a master-level teacher who has received the Golden Apple award recognizing excellence in the classroom and a commitment to the teaching profession.

Students in the program will be identified by APS as those not making adequate yearly progress, an important measure of school effectiveness under the federal No Child Left Behind legislation. That legislation, as well as New Mexico regulations, requires that schools provide additional assistance to children who are not yet proficient in math and reading, according to annual standardized tests.

"The Albuquerque Public Schools are excited to be working with partners like the Golden Apple Foundation, Qwest and UNM to help some of our most challenged students achieve academic success,” says Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Everitt. “We have seen these programs work in the past and believe this one can be just as successful."

APS has offered summer programs in the past to help students raise achievement levels and has seen a majority of the students participating improve by at least one grade level. The Gateway program brings an added value in the supervision by an award-winning teacher, as well as putting the new teachers immediately into a team-teaching environment.

National studies generally indicate that a third of new teachers will leave the profession within their first five years of teaching. Many of those who leave cite isolation in the classroom and a lack of support as the primary reasons for their leaving the profession. New teachers are often placed in low-performing schools, a difficult assignment that further contributes to their decision to quit.

The Gateway program is designed to tackle both the issue of student achievement and the need to get teachers off to a strong start in the classroom.