Bendixen-Noe, Mary K.

Giebelhaus, Carmen

English

Bowling Green State University: ScholarWorks@BGSU

Mid-Western Educational Researcher Volume 12 Issue 4 Article 2 1999 Mentoring: An Introduction Mary K. Bendixen-Noe The Ohio State University - Newark Carmen Giebelhaus University of Dayton Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/mwer How does access to this work benefit you? Let us know! Recommended Citation Bendixen-Noe, Mary K. and Giebelhaus, Carmen (1999) "Mentoring: An Introduction," Mid-Western Educational Researcher: Vol. 12: Iss. 4, Article 2. Available at: https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/mwer/vol12/iss4/2 This Front Matter is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at ScholarWorks@BGSU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Mid-Western Educational Researcher by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@BGSU. Mid-Western Educational Researcher Volume 12, Number 4  ·  Fall 1999 2 Only one in five teachers feels “very well prepared” to work in today’s classroom (NCES, 1999).  One reason cited was the lack of opportunity for conferring with colleagues. Among teachers whose schools dedicate time for working with other teachers, 40% say it improves their teaching “a lot”, and another third say it improves their teaching “mod-erately” (NCES, 1999). From this and other studies, teachers are telling us that collaboration and having time to work with others is impor-tant to them, their teaching, and ultimately our children. Mentoring was mentioned as one vehicle to develop these associations.  Sadly, however, only 19% of the teachers said they had been formally mentored by another teacher.  Of those, over 70% said once-a-week mentoring helped their teaching and professional growth “a lot” (NCES, 1999). Currently, twenty-eight states and the District of Co-lumbia have instituted some form of mentoring (Halford, 1999).  Obviously, policies to establish mentoring programs have been and continue to become an important issue.  The wave of teacher retirements, the publics focus on educational quality, and the high attrition rate of new teachers have com-pelled legislators and the public to create induction programs to support new teachers. Education organizations have responded with special interest groups on mentoring, numerous working sessions at annual conferences and thematic issues.  As my five year- old son would say, “It’s hot hot hot!” This special thematic issue of the Midwest Education Researcher focuses on mentoring in the Midwest.  Members of MWERA from various states who have conducted re-search in mentoring and who have been involved either in planning, implementing or evaluating mentoring programs were asked to contribute.  We have attempted to bring a diverse range of views regarding mentoring.  Bainer de-scribes her research where issues regarding mentoring in elementary school settings have emerged.  Stinson looks at the impact of legislated mentoring programs in New Jersey and their implications for Wisconsin’s newly mandated teacher licensing in which mentoring is required.  Giebelhaus gives evidence regarding the impact of mentor training on beginning teachers in her study.  Runyan looks at why it is important to have a clear framework in implementing men-tor programs and the importance in assessing their effec-tiveness. Stakeholders in mentoring have also been addressed in this issue.  Brock analyzes the importance and impact of principals with regards to induction year programs. Bendixen-Noe describes issues facing teacher unions as they negotiate contracts in which mentoring has become a factor. Finally, two articles deal with the role of universities and mentoring programs.  Salzman gives details about a university course that was designed for mentors of begin-ning teachers.  Bowman and Ward write about an award winning university/school partnership program focusing on mentoring based on researched effective pedagogical prin-ciples and the use of technology in that program. We think you will find the articles presented, ones that will not only inform you, but may encourage you to look at the mentoring programs in your area.  The impact of mentoring programs are far reaching.  Ultimately, such pro-grams should help our children reach appropriate learning goals by ensuring that highly qualified teachers are in their classrooms. References Halford, J. M.  (1999).  Policies to support new teachers. Educational Leadership, 56(8), 85. National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).  (1999). Teacher quality: A report on teacher preparation and qualifications of public school teachers.  Washington, D.C.: author. Mentoring:  An Introduction Mary K. Bendixen-Noe The Ohio State University, Newark Carmen Giebelhaus University of Dayton Editorial Note:  This special issue on mentoring is an invited issue.  The articles were not peer-reviewed, but solicited by the editors of this special issue:  Mary K. Bendixen-Noe and Carmen Giebelhaus.  We would like to thank the two special issue editors for their hard work on this issue. 

Mentoring: An Introduction

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Mentoring: An Introduction

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