Latest Push for Teacher Quality: Better Mentoring of Classroom Rookies

Professional mentors for new teachers have been long been recognized as critical to boosting teacher quality, guiding the rookies in New Jersey and elsewhere through what can be a brutal first year in the classroom.

But the quality of the mentoring has also long been viewed as inconsistent, at best, and often depends on the district or even the individuals involved. The Christie administration is hoping to improve on this situation by changing the requirements for choosing and training mentors, strengthening some rules and easing others.

For instance, only teachers who themselves are judged as “effective” or “highly effective” under the new teacher evaluations would be eligible to serve as mentors, and training will need to cover specific areas. Further, developing the mentoring plan will be strictly up to the district superintendent, removing local committees -- and teachers -- from the equation.

“Mentoring is one of those things like motherhood and apple pie that is hard to be against, but data has shown that many programs have low effectiveness,” said state Education Commissioner Chris Cerf, in presenting the new code to the state Board of Education yesterday. “So, it is not about just having a mentoring program, but having a quality mentoring program,” he said.

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