Frances Karanovich is an assistant professor of Educational Leadership at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Jane Eichman is superintendent of Rock Falls THSD 301 in Rock Falls, Illinois.
It’s a sobering question that all school board members need to ask: How does your district measure up when it comes to mentoring?
As a board member, can you be sure of the answer? Does your district provide mentoring programs for new teachers, new principals and new superintendents — those professional educators who could very well face overwhelming problems during their first few years on the job in your district? Is your program in place, or are you waiting for the state to provide money to support a program?
When districts hire teachers, principals or superintendents, the prevailing expectation is that these professional educators should know everything about their new job. After all, they went to college. They studied and earned a degree. They obtained either a teaching certificate or an administrative endorsement. Some even earned an endorsement beyond their master’s degree.
As a result, school board members presume that teachers and administrators should automatically be able to step into a new position and begin. But that is not always the case, nor is it always that simple.
New teachers, principals and superintendents all can benefit from mentoring programs that not only help provide a smooth transition into the district, but also to help them be successful in their new positions.
Definitions
During a statewide induction and mentoring study session in 2000, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) defined mentoring as “the professional practice that occurs in the context of [education] where experienced, trained educators work effectively with novice [educators] to support, challenge, and guide the continued development of their [professional] practices and facilitate structured reflection of [those] practice[s].”
A formal mentoring program, then, is defined as a well-planned, comprehensive program sanctioned through ISBE or through another professional association (i.e., Illinois Principals Association, Illinois Association of School Administrators, Illinois Association of School Boards or Illinois Association of School Business Officials) designed to strengthen the leadership and professional capacity of school district teachers, principals and superintendents.
The term “mentor,” according to Susan Reese in her 2006 book Techniqueson mentoring, originated with Homer, the ancient Greek poet, and his epic poem, The Odyssey. When the great warrior Odysseus departed for the Trojan War, he left the education of his son Telemachus in the hands of his trusted friend, whose name was “Mentor.” In Myths and folklore, Henry I. Christ defined mentor as one who acts as a guardian, a trusted counselor or a teacher.
In a 1990 issue of Review of Research in Education, J.W. Little wrote that mentoring burst onto the educational scene in the early 1980s as part of a broad movement aimed at improving education. Since then, policymakers and educational leaders have pinned high hopes on mentoring as a tool for reforming teaching and teacher education. Due to an awareness of various problems faced by beginning teachers, policymakers realized the logic of providing on-site support and assistance to novices during their first year of teaching.
Teacher mentoring
Numerous education researchers, such as Mary Delgado, Richard M. Ingersoll, Ellen Moir, and the team of Debra Hare and James Heap, have looked at the problems involved with being a first-year teacher. Estimates indicate that between 40 and 50 percent of new teachers leave the field during the first seven years of their career, and more than two-thirds of those do so in the first four years. About 6 percent of teachers leave the profession in a typical year and at least one-third of newly inducted teachers leave the profession within three years. Though the statistics vary slightly, they are significant enough to indicate that new teachers can be at risk.
Some new teachers actually declare failure after the first several months — even after entering the profession full of enthusiasm after receiving quality academic training and having a successful student-teaching experience. In addition, some new teachers often experience a type of culture shock: they become discouraged and disillusioned. Due to a rocky start, they may ultimately begin to question their reasons for entering the field of teaching.
This was the case with Rebecca, a third grade teacher, who related the following to Dwight Rogers and Leslie Babinski for a 1999 article in Educational Leadership:
“I know it has been rough because it is the first year. And it is always going to be rough in your first year. But I never expected it to be like this. I never thought I’d feel so down and so incompetent … . There have been times this year where I felt so small I couldn’t even scrape myself off the floor.”
Historically, little attention has been paid to the development or mentoring of education’s prime resource — its teachers. In terms of launching a new teacher’s career, the traditional myth is that college graduates from teacher credential programs are adequately prepared to teach unassisted in a classroom.
But even though the new teachers may have had quality preparation programs, they may, in reality, be assigned to some of the worst classroom situations. At a time when they are still learning to teach, some are assigned the most difficult classes, the most challenging students, the most extra-duty assignments and the fewest resources.
Regardless of the quality of their preparation, some teachers face an overwhelming number of complex problems in their first classroom, according to Ellen Moir and Janet Gless, who authored “Quality induction: An investment in teachers.”
Another researcher, Kate Beem, contends that in the 1990s, teacher mentoring programs proved that supporting first-year teachers yielded better instructors and provided increased teacher retention. For this reason, ISBE officials currently place a strong emphasis on mentoring and training for new teachers through the Induction for the 21st Century Educator program, available from the Regional Offices of Education throughout the state.
Administrators and veteran teachers may participate in the training, which focuses on effective implementation of mentoring programs for new teachers. The ultimate goal is that the guidance and support that veteran teachers can offer to new teachers during their first few years will help to encourage them to stay in the field of education.
Following the required training, a local school district can submit an application to ISBE in order to receive approval for a two-year induction and mentoring program. Though ISBE strongly encourages local school districts to provide formal induction and mentoring programs for new teachers and offers selected training sites through its ROEs, mentoring for new teachers is not currently a requirement in Illinois.
Principal mentoring
Just as novice teachers sometimes struggle with experiences of inadequacy, beginning principals often harbor similar feelings and frustrations. Many principals think that when they’re hired to do a job, they’re expected to know everything. They should be able to handle situations with ease and deal with other people’s problems.
Even when principals are at the beginning of their administrative careers, they sometimes believe they should know more and be able to do more than they are currently able to do.
Many new principals are not fortunate enough to experience a mentoring relationship with their boss. Some became principals because they were assistant principals or because they were successful sports coaches. In other cases, they were chosen simply by default: their boss retired and they were next in the line of succession. Some individuals begin their administrative journeys without the additional tools to be effective school leaders.
In “When the principal is the new kid at school,” John Franklin describes Rosemarie Young, who remembered her first day as a school principal quite well. She recalled that what made the experience so remarkable was the unremarkable way it began.
“I met another principal who gave me the keys, walked me through the school, and that was it . … There wasn’t a lot of support; there wasn’t a system or internship to prepare you — you just learned as you went.”
In “Lord, what do I do now?” Thomas S. Mawhinney wrote about a presentation he heard at the Harvard Principals Center. Curtis Wells’ first day on the job as the headmaster of Hyde Park High School, Mawhinney wrote, went like this:
“He arrived at his new school on the first day of July and he found the building locked. If he was expecting a welcoming committee, he was in for a major disappointment. Once he gained entrance, he had to convince the custodian to let him into the principal’s office. There on the desk, he discovered a set of keys and a note from his predecessor. It simply read, ‘Good luck!’ He sat down in the chair, put his feet on the desk and muttered out loud, ‘Lord, what do I do now?’”
Illinois legislation signed into law two years ago currently mandates that all principals new to the profession must take part in an ISBE-certified mentoring program. The Illinois New Principal Mentoring (INPM) program (Public Act 94-1039) affects all new principals in the state except those in Chicago Public Schools.
According to the law, all principals new to the profession must participate. Those who were formerly assistant principals for five years in the school where they will be the new principal are not required to fulfill the mentoring requirement. However, school districts can require those individuals to complete new principal mentoring.
Under the program, a first-year principal is matched with a mentor who is a successful principal with at least three years of experience as a principal. School districts are responsible for ensuring that each new principal they hire is mentored by a qualified, highly-trained mentor.
The requirement, which is contingent on state funding, started with the 2007-2008 school year. A contract to manage the INPM program was awarded to the Illinois Principals Association (IPA) in November 2007.
According to DeJuan Kea, IPA’s director of governmental and public relations, ISBE has recommended funding of $800,000 for the principal mentoring program for FY2010-11. That’s down from $2.1 million last year, or a cut of more than 60 percent to the program.
“That means a decrease in the number of people that we can serve,” Kea said. As of August, they were unsure of the exact numbers.
Superintendent mentoring
New superintendents in Illinois also often enter the position lacking experience, training or adequate professional development opportunities that could be an asset to them as they embark on their new administrative career. As a result, mentoring programs are now moving up to superintendents, who serve as the instructional leaders of their school districts.
J.C. Daresh, a professor of educational leadership at the University of Texas at El Paso, explained the conundrum for new superintendents in Leaders Helping Leaders: A practical guide to administrative mentoring:
“Educators know that the world of the superintendent … although exciting, challenging, and often personally rewarding, is also a world filled with considerable anxiety, frustration, self-doubt and loneliness. But there is also a corresponding part of the world of school administrators in many school systems that proclaims, ‘You’re the boss. Fix your own problems and don’t ask for help from anyone. If you can’t do the job on your own, you’re a failure.’”
Illinois also has passed legislation that requires mentoring for new superintendents. The original intent of the law, according to Diane Hendren, director of governmental relations for the Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA), was to require statewide mentoring for all new superintendents.
Public Act 96-0062, passed in 2009, stipulates that superintendents who begin serving on or after July 1, 2009, and who have not previously served as a school district superintendent in Illinois, are required to participate in a two-year superintendent mentoring program established by ISBE. The new superintendent will be matched with a superintendent who has served in Illinois for at least three years and who has demonstrated success as an instructional leader as determined by ISBE rules. Mentors also must complete training through a provider selected by ISBE.
The implementation of the required superintendent mentoring program, however, is contingent upon the General Assembly appropriating funds to ISBE to run the program. Even though the law is on the books, superintendent mentoring is not currently a requirement because funds have not been appropriated.
A line item in ISBE’s FY2011 shows a 40 percent cut in “teacher and administrator mentoring,” leaving the ISBE allocation at just more than $5.6 million as of early August 2010. When the state becomes financially stable again, it is predicted that ISBE will conduct budget hearings and strategically ask superintendents to attend and testify as to the need for the superintendent mentoring program.
Recognizing that a need for mentoring exists, IASA — the professional organization for superintendents in Illinois — has stepped up to fill in the gap by providing workshops, training activities and mentoring opportunities for new superintendents, but they are provided solely on a voluntary basis. Without a formal mentoring program in place, current mentoring opportunities for new superintendents in the state appear to be a variegated menu of informal activities and in-service trainings.
Conclusion
New employees bring various levels of expertise to their new positions. Whether employed as teachers, principals or superintendents, they may face a new geographic location, a new building, a new grade level, or a new set of rules and regulations. Veteran teachers and administrators have the advantage of relying on past experiences to help them acclimate to a new position. In contrast, new teachers and administrators do not have this luxury. School board members need to be cognizant of this dilemma and strive to support positive formal mentoring opportunities.
New teachers, principals and superintendents are susceptible to a myriad of obstacles. They may struggle with feelings of apprehension and confusion, face a number of complex problems, or feel lonely and ostracized.
Formal mentoring programs can play a vital role in the preparation and retention of these new employees. Negative feelings of frustration, doubt and discouragement can be channeled into positive feelings of encouragement, enthusiasm and excitement as new teachers, principals and superintendents begin to realize the potential successes that await them in a new district.
Mentoring programs can help provide a smooth transition into the district, encourage professional growth opportunities and support on-going success in the field of education. Such programs can help bridge the gap between what people know, what they think they know and what they ultimately need to know in order to be successful in their new position.
There is power in mentoring.
References
Kate Beem, “Superintendent mentoring the state way,” The School Administrator, 2007
Henry I. Christ, Myths and folklore, Amsco School Publications, 1989
J.C. Daresh, Leaders Helping Leaders: A practical guide to administrative mentoring, Second edition, Corwin Press, 2001
Mary Delgado, “Lifesaving 101: How a veteran teacher can help a beginner,” Educational Leadership, May 1999
John Franklin, “When the principal is the new kid at school,” Education Update Newsletter, 2005
Debra Hare and James Heap, Effective teacher recruitment and retention strategies in the Midwest: Where are they and do they work? North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2001
Illinois State Board of Education, Contract award notice for new principal mentoring program: Illinois Principals Association, handout for business meeting, Springfield, Illinois, November 14-15, 2007
Richard M. Ingersoll, “The problem of under-qualified teachers in American secondary schools,” Educational Researcher, 1999
J.W. Little, “The mentor phenomenon and the social organization of teaching,” Review of Research in Education, American Educational Research Association, 1990
Thomas S. Mawhinney, “Lord, what do I do now? Prepping new principals goes well beyond a set of new keys and well wishes,” The School Administrator, June 2005
Ellen Moir, Putting new teachers at the center: Santa Cruz new teacher project-University of California, Santa Cruz, http://www.newteachercenter.org/PROResearch.shtml/article2.html
Ellen Moir and Janet Gless, “Quality induction: An investment in teachers,” New Teacher Center Reflections newsletter, Santa Cruz, California: University of California, Department of Education, http://www.newteachercenter.org/articleCCETQInd.html
K. Peterson and Nicki Rosenbaum, Induction for the 21st century educator, Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, the Intermediate Service Centers and Illinois State Board of Education, 2001
Susan Reese, “The art of mentoring,” Techniques, September 2006
Dwight L. Rogers and Leslie Babinski, “Breaking through isolation with new teacher groups,” Educational Leadership, 1999