Description > New Teacher Mentoring and Induction

The complexity of teaching can be daunting for those new to the profession. Teaching is one of the few professions with no built-in apprenticeship period, in which novices must assume the same responsibilities as veterans in the field. These conditions create stress for a beginning teacher; it is interest of both beginning teachers and the students they teach that this period be as brief as possible. Mentoring of new teachers is accepted as the optimal method to provide the necessary support.A program of new teacher mentoring consists of training, support and follow-up for mentors and novice teachers to increase teacher retention, establish norms of professionalism, and increase effective teacher performance, which in turn leads to improved student achievement. In this endeavor it is essential to work from a coherent definition of good teaching.

The use of formative assessment based on The Framework for Teaching in the mentoring process helps beginning teachers focus on classroom performance and delineate how teaching improves from novice to expert practice.

Lifelong learning for both educators and students.