Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Commonly received questions are organized by questions at the start of a school year and those at the end of the school year.
The New Teacher Program at Denver Public Schools provides structures and supports for teachers who are new to teaching and/or who are new to the district. In addition, as part of the New Teacher Program, support is provided to all individuals who participate in New Teacher Induction. New Teacher Induction is the main component of the New Teacher Program and is required for new teachers. Induction includes attending new teacher orientation, ongoing professional development, and mentoring.
An Induction certificate signifies that you have completed Induction requirements in the area you teach. In addition, your Induction certificate is required to apply for your professional teaching license with the state of Colorado.
Refer to the Induction Overview page to learn more about how to complete Induction.
Induction is designed to take one year; however, teachers have up to three years to complete the process.
TIRs do not officially begin Induction until their second year of teaching but should attend New Teacher Orientation before their first year of teaching. TIRs do not officially begin Induction until the second year of their program because of the workload and mentoring received in their college program during the first year. However, first-year TIRs are assigned mentors and may require certain professional development sessions in their buildings during their first year of teaching, which is taken in addition to the requirements of Induction starting in their second year.
Principals assign mentors to new teachers as soon as possible before school starts or as soon as possible after new teachers begin during the school year. The sooner a mentor knows of their new teacher assignment, the sooner that relationship begins to grow.
Principals use the Mentor Assignment Log to report assignments as soon as possible to the Leadership Development Department. Download the form from the Forms and Documents page.
New Teacher Induction programs for charter schools are managed within the individual charter schools and are not managed by the Leadership Development Department of Denver Public Schools. Therefore, principals of charter schools must organize an Induction program for their schools.
New Teacher Induction programs for charter schools are managed within the individual charter schools and are not managed by the Leadership Development Department of Denver Public Schools. Therefore, please refer to your principal for more information about how to complete Induction and receive your Induction certificate from your school.
Complete your TIR program (including New Teacher Induction) through your individual school, but Denver Public Schools is your designated agency. Your designated agency is who makes your recommendation for licensure to the state upon completing the TIR program. Contact Kathy Adams, Alternative Certification and Teacher-in-Residence Coordinator, at kathy_adams@dpsk12.org or 720-423-3293, for more information if you are a TIR at a charter school.
To document your progress in the Induction program, you need to submit the following.
Go to the Forms and Documents page.
If you use the correct fax number and received a confirmation from your fax machine or if you sent your forms through school mail, you can safely assume we received the forms. Due to the large amounts of forms we receive, we cannot confirm every fax we receive. Filling out a form electronically and emailing it is the most reliable way to send forms.
You should receive your Induction certificate up to two weeks after we receive all of your paperwork. Certificates will be sent through school mail up until May 20, after which they will be sent through email in PDF form.
You are paid the inservice rate for professional development you take outside the regular contracted school day up to 16 hours. Pay will be in your June paycheck for the prior school year.
Only teacher mentors who submit mentor worksheets are paid for mentoring new teachers. Pay will be included in the February paycheck for the fall semester and the June paycheck for the spring semester.
To ensure you receive your pay and/or Induction certificate in a timely manner, please submit your paperwork by the due date. If your paperwork is late, it will be processed as soon as possible.
Optionally, you can hand deliver forms to the Leadership Development Department at 900 Grant Street, Room 600. You can also school mail forms to New Teachers, Leadership Development Department.
You should submit your forms if you did complete any part of Induction. Additionally, you can complete Induction next year if you did not complete Induction this year. Urgent time constraints depend on your license and how long you have had it and when it expires. DPS does not administer licensing. Refer to the Colorado Department of Education (CDE) Web site to learn more about teacher licensing.
If you have technical questions about this Web site, contact Joel' Bradley-Hess at
joel_bradley-hess@dpsk12.org or 720-423-3723.
Page last updated:
Saturday, August 05, 2006
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