Alternatively Certified Induction Support
Alternatively Certified Induction Support
Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) offers a year-long support program for first-year career-changers through the Office of Employee Experience, specifically for the Meadowcreek, South Gwinnett, Berkmar, and Norcross cluster schools. This includes a 5-day paid summer institute covering classroom management, instructional strategies, professionalism, ethics, Gradual Release instructional framework, formative assessment, and small group support. Participants also engage in the observation of Summer School classrooms for hands-on experience and receive ongoing support through Fall and Spring professional learning and informal school site visits.
Additionally, the Office of Employee Experience supports student teachers (residents) from the University of North Georgia, Georgia Gwinnett College, and Georgia State University. Residents are fully integrated into instructional roles by the second nine weeks, receive orientation from both their universities and GCPS. Each resident is paired with a mentor teacher, works a 4-day week, and earns a living wage. Mentor teachers receive stipends for attending off-contract professional learning sessions.
Gwinnett County Public Schools offers a 3-year research-based training program for Lead Mentors in local schools. Lead Mentors coordinate local school induction programs for new teachers. Lead Mentors train and support new teacher mentors, facilitate professional learning, manage the induction program, evaluate program effectiveness, partner with the administrative team, and implement a framework of district and local school supports.
Teach Gwinnett is a Georgia Teacher Academy for Preparation and Pedagogy (GaTAPP) conducted by Gwinnett County Public Schools that certifies teachers in critical needs fields. Teacher candidates who successfully complete the requirements of the program will qualify for an Induction, Pathway 1 teaching certificate from the state of Georgia.
The Teach Gwinnett program is a hybrid of asynchronous and synchronous learning. A minimum of 80% attendance at all in-person learning and synchronous learning is required to maintain enrollment in Teach Gwinnett, as is full completion of asynchronous assignments.
The Teach Gwinnett program can be completed in one to two years dependent upon candidate performance and pacing of assignments/ assessments during program enrollment.
The Department of Special Education and Psychological Services offers an Induction Series that includes three full days of face-to-face professional learning. Hands-on professional learning is designed to provide time for teachers to work directly with program area instructional coaches and mentor teachers on just-in-time topics.
The Special Education Induction Series is offered in the Fall of 2025 and repeats in Spring 2026 to accommodate teachers hired after the start of the school year. Sessions do not need to be completed in sequential order. Part-year hires are encouraged to attend the Induction Series as soon as they begin their tenure in GCPS. Teachers who miss a session offered during the first semester can attend the corresponding session in the second semester as a make-up opportunity.
Teachers teaching Alternate AKS should also attend ONE day of Unique Learning Systems training as part of their induction program. Additionally, every new special education teacher is assigned a district-level special education mentor teacher to provide ongoing individualized support throughout the school year. This support is confidential and non-supervisory.
The Office of College and Career Development offers a professional development series catered to brand new teachers coming out of industry or first year college graduates without an education degree. Six in-person meetings are provided for teachers to have the opportunity to learn effective classroom management, lesson planning and instructional strategies to support the Academic Knowledge and Skills (AKS).