Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Lessons from the Experience in Texas

The needs of beginning teachers have been brought to the forefront of state and national policy due to increasing concerns about teacher quality and teacher shortage problems. Since 1989, the state of Texas has experimented with mentoring for beginning teachers as a strategy to encourage and facilitate the retention of teachers through their first years in the profession. Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Lessons from the Experience in Texastakes a look at the Texas experience.

 

The three policy questions appearing below guided SEDL's research on teacher mentoring programs as a strategy to address beginning teacher quality and retention. SEDL examined teacher mentoring programs as an important local response to state law on teacher retention and induction. As the questions indicate, the research focused on mentoring programs in the state of Texas with emphasis on existing strategies. SEDL also explored the implications of mentoring for teachers of diverse student populations.

1. How have schools and districts planned and implemented mentoring programs to respond to state policy on teacher induction?
2. What are the characteristics of district or school mentoring programs in the state with respect to resource allocation, range of activities, and effectiveness?
3. What are the implications of current mentoring activities for the retention of teachers in districts or schools with increasingly diverse student populations?

 

SEDL pursued a mix of quantitative and qualitative research methods to address the questions to be studied. In order to align the research focus with current knowledge and state policy priorities around mentoring, staff worked with an advisory team made up of state agency representatives, content advisors in the field of teacher mentoring and induction, and experts in research methodology. SEDL also contracted with researchers from The University of Texas at Austin and SBG Research to assist this investigation. The project's advisory team and research consultants reviewed the research plan and helped refine the design. The advisory team also provided information on the progress of state initiatives around teacher mentoring. This information, along with a review of the literature and conversations with local and state experts about mentoring programs and teacher retention, provided researchers with a better understanding of the context of mentoring in Texas.