MENTOR ASSIGNMENT GUIDELINES 2013-2014
A beginning teacher is defined as a teacher with fewer than 3 years of teaching experience and hold a Standard Professional I (SPI) license.
All beginning teachers must be assigned a mentor during their first 3 years of teaching per NC State Board of Education policy.
As school leaders consider who should serve as a mentor, it is encouraged to select mentors who demonstrate the following attributes:
- A sense of optimism for teaching;
- Ability to listen well;
- Capacity to engage in reflective dialogue that nurtures the independent ability of a beginning teacher to assess and enhance his or her practice;
- Commitment to continuous professional development;
- Desire to serve all students equitably regardless of socio-economic status, first language, exceptionality or race;
- Facility to adapt instructional methods to the individual needs of students;
- Commitment to collaboration; and
- Ability to utilize multiple types of assessment of student work and adapt instruction from the analysis of assessment data.
- Mentors should have a demonstrated record of success on the North Carolina Teacher Evaluation and the support of school leadership and their peers. Mentors willing to serve need to work in an environment that facilitates their success, including close proximity and scheduling that allows time to plan and collaborate with beginning teachers.
Mentors must have received the updated version (2010-2011, 2011-2012, or 2012-2013) of mentor training prior to serving or agree to attend training during the year of their present assignment. It is permissible to allow mentors to begin serving before they have the actual training. Additional mentor training opportunities will be communicated at the beginning of the school year.
All mentors must document their support of beginning teachers, regardless if they are paid to mentor or not. All mentors will be required to complete a Beginning Teacher/Mentor Contact Log. This documentation will be due to HR each month. (There will not be separate paperwork for mentors who receive pay and those who do not.)
Mentors may be expected to attend beginning teacher support meetings held at the school throughout the year that are facilitated by lead mentor/assistant principal working with BTs and mentors.
***If a teacher has 3 or more years of teaching but is new to the school system, they should be assigned a “buddy teacher” to help them acclimate to the new setting. The “buddy teacher” does not need to document this support.
To qualify for mentor pay, a mentor must be:
- assigned to a newly licensed teacher who has less than 1 year of teaching experience (pay status is A-0).
- assigned to a teacher in their second year of teaching(pay status is A-1).
During the 2013-2014 school year, we anticipate that mentors of BT1s and BT2s will receive $50 each month (paid September – May). Mentors that are assigned more than one mentee will only receive one monthly mentor stipend.
MENTOR PAY RULE OF THUMB: If a person has 2 or more years of teaching experience in NC or any other state, their mentor cannot receive any money, even if they have to complete paperwork. If a person has 3 or more years of teaching in NC or any other state, they will not receive a mentor at all - only a buddy teacher.