Dubuque Schools' Mentoring Program Wins National NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award

October 14, 3002

High new teacher retention key factor in the District's honor.

Click on the button at left to hear a 2 minute interview with Saturn's Douglas P. Marshall who was on hand for the official presentation of The NEA-Saturn/UAW Partnership Award at Monday Night's School Board meeting. Dubuque Schools won the award for its Teacher Mentoring Program. The award is sponsored by the Saturn Corporation, The United Auto Workers, and the National Education Association.

Text of the Speech presented by Douglas P. Marshall, Marketing Area Manager Central Region Field Team, Saturn Corporation

NEA Saturn/UAW Partnership Award Presentation to Dubuque Community School District and Dubuque Education Association Monday, October 14, 7:00 pm
Good Evening! My name is Doug Marshall and on behalf of Saturn Corporation, it is a privilege to be here with you tonight.

Saturn is a different kind of car company. It was born of the idea that the United Auto Workers and management could have an equal say in every decision and could build a high quality small car to compete against the imports and save American jobs. Based in Spring Hill, Tennessee, Saturn was created under the concept that union and management could be partners.

Saturn cars have earned top ratings from the most prestigious surveys in the automotive industry. More importantly, Saturn cars and Saturn retailers earn high praise from Saturn customers. Recently, we were rated #1 by J.D. Powers and Associates for the third consecutive year in Sales Satisfaction. In addition, this year Saturn also ranked #1 atop J.D. Powers Service Satisfaction index. This marked the first time in 16 years where a non-luxury nameplate ranked #1 for both sales and service.

Partnership Works!
In presenting the NEA - Saturn/UAW Partnership Award, Saturn recognizes local education associations and public school administrators who have created meaningful partnerships in pursuit of excellence in public schools.

The purpose of the award is to both salute partnership efforts already in action, and to encourage awareness of the value of partnerships among all local unions and school districts and universities.

Three criteria drive the award. First, the partnership must include joint decision-making by union and management. Second, the partnership must be long-standing. Third, the partnership must be systemic to the district and not just single-project oriented. NEA Saturn/UAW - Partnership Award Presentation
Page 2

This year, the NEA - Saturn/UAW Partnership Award focused on teacher mentoring to address the challenges of guaranteeing a quality teacher in every classroom. At a time when teacher shortages are worsening and student enrollment levels are growing, new teachers cite "lack of support" as a major concern, it was important that we honor and recognize partnerships that support and retain new teachers. The Dubuque Community School District and the Dubuque Education Association were voted by a panel of judges as one of the six distinguished winners for 2002.

We are recognizing the educational community of Dubuque for developing the "Dubuque Professional Mentoring Program", a mentoring program of teamwork and trusting atmosphere. The impact of this program provided the use of fulltime mentors with five years' experience as consulting teachers to coach, mentor and support new teachers. As a result of this partnership effort, the Dubuque Community School District achieved a successful retention of 96% of new teachers hired within the last year. Furthermore, teachers and administrators are provided with opportunities to develop new approaches based on shared decision-making.

In recognition of their partnership commitment, Saturn and its United Auto Workers salute the Dubuque Community School District and the Dubuque Education Association as a 2002 Distinguished Winner of the NEA-Saturn UAW Partnership Award. Selected representatives from both the school district and teacher association will attend a partnership conference in Spring Hill at the Saturn Plant in November.

We commend you on your efforts to work together as partners and we applaud your commitment to the future of education in your community. I'd like to present this award to Peggy Becker, President of the Dubuque Education Association and John Burgart, Superintendent of Dubuque Community School District. Congratulations!

Click on the photo for a large, printable version.

With Doug Marshall (left) is Jeff Johll, coordinator of the DCSD Mentoring Program, Peggy Becker, teacher and president of the DEA, and John Burgart, Interim Superintendent, of Schools. Details of the award and the Mentoring Program for which we won will be published in the Dubuque School District Annual Report to be distributed November 10th.