THE MARIGOLD EFFECT
New teachers, like all teachers, need to feel they are part of a nested comm
unity of learners. While having mentors who can provide general guidance regarding classroom structures and school-based routines is helpful, without regular collaboration and support from identified content-focused teacher mentors, many of these teachers will transfer to other schools or, worse yet, leave the field altogether. Survey data related to new teacher induction programs paints a discouraging picture regarding the support novice teachers receive during their formative years in the classroom. While Delaware Department of Education leaders have made substantial progress addressing concerns expressed by novice and master teachers in the state, to promote more robust mathematics teaching and learning environments in our schools, the members of the Delaware Mathematics Coalition (DMC) community believe there is a need to reimagine a system of support for preparing and retaining newly employed teachers of mathematics. The organization’s approach engages cohorts of identified teacher leaders and teachers in their early years as practitioners in sustained content-focused video-based professional learning experiences that have demonstrated evidence of the power and potential of promoting teachers’ content knowledge, pedagogical growth, and higher achievement in mathematics (RBS, 2017, 2018, 2019). The model is based on a concept called the marigold effect