As faculty members, we need to provide TAs with the information they need to succeed as teachers. In my role as Director of Basic Spanish Instruction, I have found that written policies and suggestions for effective teaching are crucial additions to our four-day workshop/orientation each August. For this reason, in collaboration with several TAs in our program, I have co-authored three handbooks: the Spanish TA Handbook, the Spanish Preceptor Handbook, and the Testing Handbook: Everything You Wanted to Know About Language Testing But Were Afraid to Ask.

The Spanish TA Handbook, which TAs receive before arriving at the University, provides information about language teaching and offers suggestions for the first day of class, lesson planning, testing, teaching the four language skills, and helping students with specific learning disabilities. We also include information about University resources and references to professional works that TAs may wish to consult.

The second handbook is designed for course directors or head TAs, called "preceptors" in our department. The preceptor in charge of each of the eight courses in our basic language program designs the syllabus, directs test preparation, and observes other TAs' classes. The Spanish Preceptor Handbook thoroughly describes these duties and includes information on add-drop and troubleshooting, as well as sample forms standard in the department.

The language testing handbook provides basic tenets of language test design, types of test items (including samples in the appendices), and grading. The handbook also specifies the physical layout of a test and outlines departmental procedures for creating a test outline, drafting a test, and producing the final test to be administered.

How might you create handbooks for TAs in your department? Here's one possibility: After surveying handbooks from other language programs, I devised a master outline for each handbook, including the goals of our program and the specific sections needed. A memo to our TAs asked for volunteers to work in collaboration as co-authors of these handbooks. After one TA was appointed as editor of each handbook, we met, delegated the various sections, drafted and edited them, then compiled and distributed them to the entire staff. First released in Summer 1990, the Spanish TA Handbook and the Spanish Preceptor Handbook have been recently revised to reflect changes in procedures and improvements in the administration of the basic program. The language testing handbook was developed in 1991.

I encourage faculty members who handle TA staffing or supervision to develop similar handbooks for their departments, particularly when TAs teach multisection courses. A handbook not only provides a wealth of information but is also a written record of your program goals and necessary procedures. Because it can be mailed in advance to new TAs before they arrive on Grounds, a departmental handbook can help alleviate the anxiety that new teachers inevitably feel and will save you time with details later. To consult the Spanish Department handbooks, stop by the Teaching Resource Center. To get funding for your own handbook, consider a TA Development Grant.