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Data from the National Center for Education Statistics dramatically demonstrates that the efficacy of mentoring is linked to the amount of time that a mentor and beginning teacher work together. In its January 1999 Teacher Quality study, the National Center for Education Statistics reports that seven in ten teachers who receive mentoring at least once a week believe that their instructional skills have improved "a lot" as a result.
As an additional benefit, a majority of those mentors who provided assistance at least once a week also reported substantial improvements to their practice. Donnis Deever, a retired teacher from Arizona and one of the architects of the Glendale Union High School District's award-winning mentoring program, explains: 'I think all of us who were mentors changed radically. Our classroom management skills changed. The way we related to other teachers in our area changed. The skills that we had to work with students in our classroom changed.'
'A mentor helps teachers make sense of the realities that they face in teaching, learn their significance, and use what they have learned to improve their teaching skills.'
A variety of methods can be used to keep in touch with your early career special educator.
- If proximity is not a problem, set up consistent and frequent meeting times dependent on the needs of your ECSPED.
- Provide informal assistance by answering the beginning teacher's immediate and pressing questions, especially in the early days.
- Use technology if you are not in close proximity.
- Establish times to contact each other on the phone, exchange email addresses and check it frequently.
- As your informal support to the emotional needs of the ECSPED is established, set up formal meeting times to observe, demonstrate, and reinforce targeted skills.
Excerpted from "Creating a Teacher Mentoring Program" NEA Foundation for the Improvement of Education.
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