Mentor+Toolbox

“Mentor” means, with respect to a beginning teacher, an individual employed by a school district or area education agency as a teacher or a retired teacher who holds a valid license issued under Iowa Code chapter 272. The individual must have a record of four years of successful teaching practice, must be employed on a nonprobationary basis, and must demonstrate professional commitment to both the improvement of teaching and learning and the development of beginning teachers.


 * 1. __CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE MENTORS__**
 * [|**http://www.edutopia.org/good-mentor**]**
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Mentoring is seen as a way to engage, challenge, and retain accomplished teachers. This is particularly important given the fact that teacher turnover is now driving teacher shortages, rather than the previously held assumption that it is driven by an undersupply of entering teachers. (Smith & Ingersoll, 2004)
 * 2. __RESEARCH ON TEACHER MENTORING__**


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Each mentor needs extensive ongoing training and support. Training will assure the steps in quality professional development, including research, theory, demonstration, practice, coaching and feedback. Quality programs provide at least 30 hours of ongoing training during the initial year. Plus follow up training in years 2 and 3, as appropriate.
 * 3. __MENTOR TEACHER TRAINING__**


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Mentors must have at least four years of teaching experience and demonstrated skills in classroom training and coaching. They receive training on district expectations, based on Iowa’s eight teaching standards. Mentoring programs can be designed by the district or the AEA, which provides school improvement services for the local education community. The mentor must follow this program while focusing on the teacher’s individual needs. One hundred percent of the public school districts and all AEAs in Iowa have a Mentoring and Induction plan that has been approved by the Iowa Department of Education.
 * 4. __DISTRICT EXPECTATIONS FOR MENTOR TEACHERS__**

*** Stipends paid directly to mentors;** *** Time--release time for mentoring, observation, in-class support, joint planning and teaching; additional compensatory personal time;** *** Allocations of funds to schools and districts to support associated implementation costs such as mentor release time, substitutes and travel between schools or even percentages of augmented mentor salaries;** *** Additional classroom assistance and support for teaching and non-teaching responsibilities;** *** Financial support and priority access to professional development in the form of university courses, training workshops and conferences.** **Other non-financial and unplanned outcome compensation cited by the researchers above include increased involvement in decision-making, increased status and respect and, longer-term, recruitment into administrative and supervisory positions. Creative options for additional compensation as well as more careful evaluation of current strategies are worthy of future exploration.**
 * 5. __MENTOR TEACHER COMPENSATION__**