What is BEST?

BEST, Beginning Educator Support Team, is a nationally recognized program that differentiates professional development for teachers throughout their life-cycle of teaching.  In every program component, an emphasis is placed on the assessment of aligning teaching practices to the outcomes of student standards.  Support is provided for beginning teachers and mentors by developmentally-aligned seminars throughout the school year, one-to-one beginning teacher/mentor interactions and choice activities that relate to the content of their teaching and school community. 

Research-Based

All BEST components have been field-tested in diverse settings, researched for ongoing program development, analyzed for effectiveness, and aligned with developmentally appropriate teacher needs. 

Teacher Retention

Over a six-year period, of 2,905 beginning teachers surveyed, 99.6% reported that BEST had a positive effect on them as first-year teachers.  Over a three-year period, 96% of beginning teachers in Arizona partnering districts returned to the teaching profession.

What is needed to implement?

To implement BEST, your school or district can choose between the three different seminar packages that fit your needs.  Please click on any of the following seminar packages below for more details.