Flexible mentorship models create better-prepped teachers

Mentoring programs for new teachers need to be tailored to meet each educator's needs and can be accomplished through a variety of models, depending on what best fits the situation and what's feasible given a district's resources, District Administration reports.One example of a one-on-one coaching model is The Mentor Program, a partnership between Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico and the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, which screens experienced mentors and pairs them with beginning teachers to offer evaluation-free personalized professional development and emotional support.Other models include the WoLakota Project, a partnership between the South Dakota Department of Education and Technology and Innovation in Education (TIE) that supports new teachers — who come from high-needs districts serving a large Native American student population — through mentoring, networking and retreats. In contrast, the Urban Teacher Residency Partnership Program, a collaboration between the University of South Florida and Florida’s Hillsborough County Public Schools, uses video coaching to support preservice teachers through a two-year residency program that guarantees them a job in the district.