Mentoring

Mentoring is an essential component of career development, and it can improve retention rates, facilitate succession planning, and provide opportunities for professional and personal growth. Whether new to education, new to a district or school, or having changed content area or role, mentoring can support each educator’s unique journey in their career. Explore this section to learn how to create integrated support systems for both new and experienced educators.

Mentoring Theory of Action

Use a theory of action to set the framework for your mentoring program. Theories of action outline how a set of actions will lead to desired outcomes. According to Garringer et al.:

If there is one “best practice” that cuts across almost all the advice and research… it is that every mentoring program must have a theory of action that explains how the mentoring services, and the activities that mentors and mentees engage in, will result in the desired outcomes at the participant and organization level” (2015).  

A clear theory of action serves as a guide for decision-making and action, to help move from planning to communication, buy-in, and implementation.

Guiding Questions for Your Theory of Action

1. What problem are you trying to solve?

2. What result are you trying to create?

Here’s an example of how you can get specific and measurable to ensure activities are addressing your root cause:

Use this worksheet to build your theory of action.

Mentoring Standards Checklist

Adapted from the 4th edition of the Elements of Effective Practice for MentoringTM (Garringer et al., 2015), this resource offers guidelines for effective workplace mentoring programs. The standards cover recruitment, screening, training, matching and initiation, monitoring and support, and closure, and it can be used in two ways:

Option 1: Use the checklist to evaluate an existing mentor program. What are the program’s strengths and weaknesses? 

Option 2: Use the checklist to think through what is needed for a new mentor program to address an identified need at your organization. What structures, policies, and practices need to be further defined to ensure the success of the program? 

Ohio’s Mentor Program Opportunities

The Ohio Department of Education and Workforce and other professional organizations offer a variety of opportunities for educators to serve as a mentor and to seek support as a mentee. Check with local- and state-level professional organizations to find existing opportunities in addition to those highlighted below.

• Resident Educator Program: Assists beginning teachers with mentoring and professional development and provides opportunities for experienced educators to give ongoing instructional support.

• Beginning Administrator Mentorship (BAM) Program: Assigned mentors work with new administrators for two full years, providing guidance and coaching on many different aspects of their role, including instructional leadership, OTES and OPES evaluations, and how to manage personnel.

  • OAESA’s contact page for PreK-8 administrators

  • OASSA’s contact page for 5-12 administrators

• New Superintendent Transition & Superintendent Executive Coaching: Assists educators assuming the superintendency for the first time and pairs superintendents who are new to the position or new to the state with experienced Ohio superintendents to offer support and guidance.

• Mentoring for School Business Officials: Open to new and experienced Business Managers, Food Service Supervisor/Directors, Treasurers, and Transportation Supervisor/Directors to serve as mentors and protégés.