Educational Research Service Making a Difference in Our Children’s Future 
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Educational Research Service Making a Difference in Our Children’s Future
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ERS Successful School Practices
A selection of successful practices, programs, and ideas contributed by school districts to the ERS Successful School Practices Collection and announced in the ERS periodical, Successful School Practices, mailed to ERS Comprehensive subscribers three times a year.
Spring 2000
Expert Teacher Mentors Support New Teachers
W
ith its sights set on improving student achievement through ongoing, high-quality teacher performance in every classroom, the Cherry Creek School District administration and teachers’ association agreed to set aside the district’s sabbatical leave program and to use the funds to support a new teacher peer-assistance program.The S.T.A.R. (Staff Training Assistance & Renewal) program, which supplements existing teacher-improvement programs, involves exemplary veteran teachers who take on the assignment to “inspire and motivate, counsel and lead” beginning teachers. “It’s all about removing obstacles to teaching and learning, then channeling and honing talent,” explains the school district director of human resources.
In the program, six outstanding veteran teachers were selected to become full-time “roving advisors,” traveling throughout the school district for three years to help the teachers under their charge. Mentors are assigned about 15 teachers each, based on new teachers’ grade-level assignments, subject areas, and school locations.
Through weekly consultations and observations, mentors discuss with their new peers effective lesson plans, instructional techniques, and behavior management; the availability and appropriate use of resources; and other information that will help orient new teachers to the school district. Mentors may also teach demonstration lessons, model effective instructional techniques, and identify and secure appropriate resources and personnel to assist the new teachers.
The induction program fulfills state requirements by assisting first-year teachers who will be applying for a professional license. In addition to helping new teachers, the program also offers experienced teachers support for professional improvement or remediation, as determined by the program’s governing panel.
The school district carefully selects those who make up the mentoring team. Along with years of experience, the veteran teachers bring a track record of outstanding performance to the program, including one teacher who was recipient of the Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence in Science and Mathematics.
The school district measures the program’s success through feedback from first-year teachers who have gone through the program, feedback from the school district administration and focus groups, and the retention level of first-year teachers. Results so far have been excellent.
“Because first-year teachers can draw on our reservoir of expertise as they develop their own skills, they become more effective teachers,” says one mentor. “Ultimately, children receive quality from more than one source.”
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