The Effects Of Mentoring Programs On First Year Teachers

8 Pages 1879 Words

INTRODUCTION
School administrators have recognized that new teachers require more than education and positive teaching skills to be successful in the educational setting: they need the support of administration and other education professionals to assure their process of development. The development of mentoring programs as a means of addressing the needs of first year teachers has become the focus of many public education administrators. This study will evaluate the efficacy of mentoring programs on the perspectives of first year teachers, and will relate the findings in the current literature to a study of first year teachers.
Problem Statement
In recent years, the focus on mentoring programs has taken hold in public high schools, though the current research suggests varying outcomes in terms of the success in the induction and integration of new teaching professionals. Concerns over educational quality and the emergence of a large population of new teachers have resulted in the call for programming to assist in the induction and introduction of new teachers (Blair-Larson, 1998).
There is evidence in the current literature that some mentoring processes are more successful than others and that some schools implementing alternative induction programs have had greater successes than existing mentoring structures (Halford, 1998; Blair-Larson, 1998; Smith, 1998). At the same time, educators and administrators have argued the general benefits of mentoring based in professional development and centered on the concept that established teachers have insight into the process of development that is necessary within every existing educational establishment. In order to consider the necessity for mentoring programs and the claims that mentoring programs are not as effective as other programs that focus on professional development within the school structure, it is necessary to evaluate the current literature and then consider the impacts of...