As more politicians call for reform efforts that improve student achievement, a discourse has developed about how policy makers and school district leaders can impact the most critical variable in a child’s education: the quality of the teacher. When new teachers are provided with sustained, high-quality mentoring and professional development opportunities, it reveals the school district’s commitment to quality teaching and learning. There are few greater gifts that one generation of educators can give to the next and that schools can give to their communities than teachers who continuously improve their teaching for the benefit of all their students and their colleagues (Portner, 2005).

New Teacher Mentoring: Hopes and Promise for Improving Teacher Effectiveness. (2009), by Ellen Moir, Dara Barlin, Janet Bless, and Jan Miles, provides the reader with a graphic illustration of why it is critical that schools provide sustained opportunities for new teachers to become effective in their practice. “One of the biggest challenges facing educational leaders today is finding strategies to keep our best and brightest teachers in our national classrooms” (book jacket). Ellen Moir is the founder and executive director of the New Teacher Center in Santa Cruz, CA. Dara Barlin is associate director of policy for the New Teacher Center. Janet Gless is also an associate director of the New Teacher Center and oversees the center’s national teacher induction strategy and program efforts. Jan Miles is the northwest regional director and trainer at the New Teacher Center.  

The book’s nine chapters are separated conceptually into four main sections (Introduction, Part I, Part II, and Part III): the introduction addresses the principles that underlie the most critical components of mentoring; next, the authors seek to convey what the principles of instructionally intensive, high-quality mentoring looks like based on their work with schools at the New Teacher Center (NTC), along with a description of the potential impact that can be achieved. Third, the heart of this book focuses on the case studies that detail theory to practice and how the principles were applied. Finally, some of the themes and patterns that emerged in the case studies are described and recommendations are made for using these insights as guideposts to support program design and implementation.  

In Chapter 1, the authors provide an overview of the current research and what it does and does not tell us about the power of well-designed mentoring programs. This chapter helps to set the stage for district leaders who are considering investing in mentoring programs. A sampling of the current research shows that high-quality mentoring programs, when implemented fully, can reduce attrition, increase effectiveness of new teachers, provide a cost savings, close the achievement gap, and reduce the inequity (p. 11) that exists especially for those disadvantaged and minority students. Although the research points to the possibilities that exist when high-quality mentoring programs are in place, the authors also point out that much of the research is in its infant stage and does not meet rigorous research standards (pp. 15-16). The authors are also careful to point out that this is not an indictment of the work already done, but an opportunity to shape the research so that it becomes more rigorous and provides more depth in examining the factors (p. 26) that contribute to success of high-quality mentoring programs.

Chapter 2 describes the NTC’s principles of high-quality mentoring programs, focusing on those principles the authors believe have the most potential to lead to improved practice. Although these principles are at the heart of the model, they are not specific to the NTC.  Principles include:

1. Recruit, select, train, and support highly skilled mentors.

2. Sanction and reinforce time for meaningful mentoring interaction.

3. Focus interactions on classroom and student data.

4. Engage stakeholders and align mentoring with instructional initiatives.

5. Collect, analyze, and communicate program data.

6. Support schools to develop an environment where new teachers thrive

These principles can be applied to any school or district, regardless of location, size, governance structure, or partnership support. They provide a compass for schools and districts to build or advance their programs in ways that have the greatest potential for impacting teacher effectiveness and student learning.  

Chapter 3 focuses on one of the elements within the principles previously identified in Chapter 2 where the NTC has the most expertise: mentor training. In this chapter, the authors explore the theory behind the practice and the need for a rigorous program that builds the mentor’s skill and knowledge level. Two decades of experience working with mentor teachers has led the NTC to base its approach to the professional development of mentors on three assumptions (p. 51):

1. Supporting new teachers is complex and demanding work and rarely

    intuitive.

2. Exemplary classroom educators do not always become outstanding teacher

    educators (mentors).

3. Veteran teachers who step forward to mentor beginning colleagues need

time, training, and ongoing support to develop the needed new skills to be effective.

The result of these assumptions is a rigorous and comprehensive professional development program focused on building the capacity of outstanding educators to become outstanding mentors. Barry Sweeny (2008) suggests that in this venue veteran mentors are seen as transformational change agents who bring clarity, voice, compassion, attitude, and direction to the beginning teacher. Mentors are expected to be transparent in their practice so that beginning teachers are able to connect theory to practice and make those connections in their classrooms. One of the most important features of this chapter are the NTC tools (pp. 61,63, 67, 70-71, 73-74) and protocols that support the mentoring relationship and provide for formative assessment of the beginning teacher. It is also important to note that in this system of support, mentors are provided with peer coaches who not only assist in processing issues and initiatives, but also provide opportunities to assess the mentors’ work, a process that mimics the Formative Assessment Tools and processes used with beginning teachers.  

In Part II the authors use a case-study approach to explore the challenges and nuances of implementing high-quality, comprehensive mentoring programs in Durham, Boston, New York City, and Chicago. Part II is really the heart of the book and provides an in-depth look at the NTCs role, contextual factors, successes, challenges, and strategies that characterize these mentoring efforts in each setting.  

The authors remind us that there is no program that meets every school’s or district’s needs. A single template for all schools cannot possibly meet the different needs of those institutions. Rather than focus on any one mentoring model, the authors’ intent is to focus on the principles that underlie the most critical components of mentoring, which are identified in Chapters 4 through 7.

The authors provide the reader with four case studies that present diverse views of how high-quality mentoring programs can differ. It is a reminder to school district leaders and mentoring program coordinators that a one size fits all program does not fit all programs. Although each district applied the NTC principles that were previously identified, the districts differed from the NTC model and from one another in a variety of ways. For example, Durham Public Schools (DPS) challenges the reader to question the need for subject-matter matching and using student test scores as an appropriate strategy for identifying potential mentors. Boston Public Schools were in part focusing on the trade-offs between full-time and part-time mentors and the value of supporting alternatively certified teachers.  New York Public Schools helps us to think about new models of mentoring and how to foster greater support for a common vision of high-quality teaching.  Chicago Public Schools represents a new model for the NTC in that the NTC is responsible for overseeing most of the implementation of the program as well as a series of wraparound services, which includes an induction strand, a principal strand, and a literacy strand (pp. 144-146).

Part III (Chapters 8 and 9) offers a review of the themes that have emerged in multiple settings and provides recommendations for using these themes as guideposts for supporting program design and implementation. It speaks to the lessons learned from the case studies and prior research and the ways in which the data can help program leaders navigate the challenges and complex systems they encounter. Although the four school districts highlighted in these chapters approached mentoring in different ways, they all demonstrated creative strategies that are essential to high-quality induction (pp.166-175).

The readers will also note that this study also raised many questions and provides educators and researchers with an opportunity to examine further the core issues that continue to exist so that programs can “realize their fullest potential” (pp. 166-175). Hopefully, we are past the season of being a profession that “eats its young.” It is not enough that we ask schools to stand on their own without support. This book is a call to all educators who desire to provide high-quality mentoring programs to reflect on their practice, to create meaningful and sustainable change, and to make an investment in some of the most important resources that we have: our teachers.

New Teacher Mentoring: Hopes and Promise for Improving Teacher Effectiveness should be required reading for all school district human resource directors, mentoring and induction program coordinators, and other school leaders. Moir, Barlin, Bless, and Miles provide the reader with powerful and compelling evidence for the value of high-quality mentoring programs based on their work at the New Teacher Center. They also remind the reader of the importance of the bottom line: “When mentors help new teachers develop their skills in reaching the hearts and minds of students in the classrooms, new teachers remain in the classroom longer and are better able to help children, especially the most underserved kids, succeed at levels that defy expectation” (pp. 2-3). And isn’t that what it’s all about?

References

Portner, H. (2005). Teacher mentoring and induction: The state of the art and beyond. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Sweeny, B.W. (2008). Leading the teacher induction and mentoring program (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.