Coaching Teachers Back in School

By COLlive reporter

The Menachem Education Foundation (MEF) will launch this fall a Teacher Coaching Program (TCP), expanding the capacity of seasoned Chabad educators, training and guiding them to mentor new teachers.

Studies show that students’ long-term success hinges most closely on the effectiveness of their teachers. The program will boost the professionalism of teachers in Crown Heights and beyond, setting new teachers on the road to success and expanding the capacity of seasoned educators, organizers said.

“The launch of this program is very close to my heart,” says Rabbi Zalman Shneur, who founded the Menachem Education Foundation with the goal of investing in our community.

“Since our inception, it has been our goal to build the capacity of educators, not just as teachers and mentors, but more importantly as teacher trainers and leaders. We have tremendous talent in our community, and we must leverage that talent for the betterment of our children.”

This Chassidishe program, with separate tracks for men and women, examines the latest trends in education and their sources, firmly rooted in the Torah. The curriculum will be taught by star teachers and mentors Rabbi Levi Feldman and Mrs. Blumie Gurevitz.

MEF’s Teacher Induction Program (TIP) has successfully trained over 135 teachers over the course of eight years. Participants study topics ranging from classroom management and various learning environments to standards-based learning and authentic assessment. In addition to the academies and forums that the program provides, individualized mentoring has been invaluable to TIP participants in solidifying their learning and supporting them in the often rocky first years of teaching.

This year, for the first time, MEF is launching a program for these mentors to enable them to provide optimal support to the new teachers they will coach.

“This is a game changer,” says Rabbi Levi Feldman. “TCP will align the two programs, giving the coaches a window into what the TIP fellows are learning in addition to empowering them with practical tools and techniques in effective coaching.”

Experienced teachers who wish to participate and earn a generous stipend can find out more about the Teacher Coaching Program here, and to apply, click here.

As for new teachers, registration is closed for the men’s cohort, but female teachers in their first three years on the job can still apply to the Teacher Induction Program for women, which is fully online to allow for participation from around the world. For more information on TIP, click here, and to apply click here.