Educational Leadership

primary source documents or for an English teacher to help a novice science teacher learn to address common student misconceptions around photosynthesis. In a study we conducted of a mentoring program in New York City, teachers rated mentors as more helpful when they were matched on either grade level or subject area, particularly at the secondary level (Grossman et al., in press).

Sufficient time. Time also matters. Having more time with a mentor increases the novice’s satisfaction with mentoring (Grossman et al., in press; Rockoff, 2008); and having a mentor for at least two years may also increase the effectiveness of mentoring (Glazerman et al., 2010; Moir et al., 2009). Yet, research suggests that many teachers don’t get as much time with a mentor as their induction program mandates or as the new teacher desires (Wechsler et al., 2010).

they felt less prepared to teach at the beginning of the school year tended to spend less time with their mentors. They were more likely to use whatever time they did spend to get emotional support and to learn basic skills, such as classroom management, rather than to work on improving their content

What the New Teacher
Brings to Mentoring

Although induction programs, and mentoring in particular, seem to be valuable for most new teachers, it turns out that what teachers bring into the classroom may affect what they receive.

For example, as we’ve just mentioned, time with a mentor matters. But who gets more time with a mentor? We might assume that teachers most in need of support receive the lion’s share of time. But in our New York City study, we found that teachers who entered the classroom feeling more prepared were likely to spend more time with their mentor (Grossman et al., in press). Teachers in this group were also more likely to focus on instruction rather than emotional support, and they rated their mentors as more helpful.

In contrast, teachers who indicated
knowledge or instructional skills.

had access to well-matched mentors, administrative support and other school factors made a big difference in the effectiveness of induction and the rate of new teacher turnover.

Savvy school leaders make choices
about the structure of induction pro-
grams that support mentoring and
lead to increased teacher
retention. For example,
they build time into
teaching schedules for fre-
quent meetings between
new teachers and mentors
(Fletcher, Strong, & Villar,
2008; Robinson, 1998);
provide opportunities for
new teachers to plan and
collaborate with other expe-
rienced teachers within
their subject or to join an
external network of teachers
(Smith & Ingersoll, 2004);
and give new teachers access
to ongoing professional
development (Alliance for
Excellent Education, 2004).
Effective school discipline
policies also provide a pos-
itive context for mentoring:
When new teachers do not
need to spend an inordinate
amount of time worrying
about student behavior, they
are more likely to use their
mentors to discuss instructional issues
(Wechsler et al., 2010).

Administrative Support
and School Context
Finally, the school context in which
teachers spend their first years can also
affect the kind of support they receive.
In a number of studies, researchers
found that even when new teachers

What Schools Can Do

Fit matters. The quality of a new teacher’s experience working with a mentor is likely to depend on the interactions among the individual teacher’s prior preparation, the mentor to whom he or she is assigned, and the context in which the new teacher and the mentor work. How can we ensure that more new teachers receive mentoring that is tailored to their needs?