For 25 years, the Peer Intervention Program has been answering cries for help from teachers who, for whatever reason, realize they are not at the top of their game.

Over those years, approximately 2,000 teachers have voluntarily participated in the program, with most getting the help they needed to succeed and some 200 others counseled out to new careers after realizing teaching was not for them.

Program Coordinator Lynne Ann Kilroy credits a practice of “constantly refining what we do, constantly evolving” for the program’s success in helping struggling teachers reach their professional potential.

PIP originated as former UFT President Sandra Feldman’s response to charges — which continue to this day — that the union was protecting incompetent teachers. From the beginning, the popular program has had a waiting list of applicants — teachers of all ages, in all stages of their careers and facing a wide variety of pedagogical challenges.

Each struggling teacher is matched with an intervenor — an experienced teacher in the same license area — who designs individualized strategies and works regularly in the classroom alongside the teacher who needs support.

According to a study, nine out of 10 PIP participants surveyed maintained their progress and Satisfactory ratings five years after completing the program.

Testimonies over the years from participants reveal just how important PIP intervention has been in their careers. Writes one teacher: “PIP took an experienced educator who had lost her confidence and was barely making it through the day and made me a confident and more competent teacher for my students.”

In some cases, the intervention affects the whole school. “Not only did I learn a tremendous amount from my year in the program,” a PIP participant reflects, “but I was honored to turnkey many of the things I learned with my colleagues. They saw the positive impact on my students last year and are motivated and encouraged to implement what they saw me do.”

Kilroy said that many principals have become believers. “Principals who are at first reluctant to have us in the building wind up referring teachers to the program and asking for our lesson plan models,” she said.

The number of teachers asking for help tripled during the Bloomberg years as teachers faced a multitude of stress factors, including high-stakes testing, increased paperwork, the new Common Core Learning Standards, administrators with no education background and now the new teacher evaluation system.

Despite the growing demand for PIP services, former Chancellor Joel Klein pressured the program to increase the caseloads of each PIP intervenor from four to six, effectively reducing the time spent with each struggling teacher in the classroom.

Over the years, PIP has broadened its focus to include guidance counselors and added a licensed mental health practitioner and a highly qualified alternative career liaison to help with transitions to other careers.

“We are all Type A personalities driven to be the best we can and are always ready to learn new strategies and take on new challenges to keep us moving forward.” Kilroy said of the PIP staff.