Mathematics and science mentor teachers are at the heart of the NNECN program. Mentors and their districts commit to a three-year program focused on supporting new science or mathematics teachers through their induction or transition period, while simultaneously supporting a school or district-wide learning community for which all science and mathematics teachers will benefit.

Mentor Teachers:

NNECN Mentors are accomplished science and/or mathematics middle or high school educators with a minimum of six years successful experience. Mentors participate in a comprehensive professional development program. Mentor teachers apply their NNECN learning during the school year through mentoring activities with new teachers. They also share their expanded and renewed professional knowledge, skills, and resources about standards-based and research-informed teaching and learning with a school or district wide learning community that includes new teachers (mentees).

New Teachers (Mentees):

Mentees will be paired with their mentors for three years, with varying levels of support. The program supports “new” middle and high school science and mathematics teachers who are:

• recent graduates of preservice programs
• content majors who enter teaching through alternative certification routes
• experienced teachers new to teaching science or mathematics
• experienced teachers in new grade levels.

Mentees participating in mentoring activities with their mentors, NNECN professional development programs, become part of a school-wide learning community, and interact with other “new” teachers through electronic discussions.

Administrators:

Support from school administrators is critical to the success of a strong mentoring program and the building of a learning community within a school. School administrators are invited to attend any of the NNECN professional development sessions in the summer and throughout the year as well as work with state coordinators to extend the NNECN project approach in their schools.

School or District-wide Faculty:

Other teachers in the school or district participate indirectly with the NNECN program. Mentors, trained in the leadership skills and professional development strategies, help create and lead learning communities within their schools or districts so that all teachers can benefit from the NNECN tools, resources, and strategies to support high quality teaching and learning, and prevent the isolation from other colleagues that new teachers often experience.

THREE-YEAR ACADEMY PROGRAM

The NNECN believes that content specific mentoring, in combination with support for all teachers in improving mathematics and science education, yields greater benefits for new teachers, veteran staff, and a district’s program.

The Learning Continuum:

Selected Teachers will serve as mentors for a “new” teacher, each year of the three year program. Mentors begin with one mentee in Year 1, pick up a new mentee in Year 2, while continuing a new phase of mentoring with the previous teacher. In Year 3, mentors add a new mentee while gradually decreasing the dependence of the Year 1 mentee. This phased in mentoring approach builds mentoring capacity for supporting new teachers while decreasing the demands on mentors’ time. Each year requires a different level of support. In Year 2, mentor teachers, with support from administrators, provide leadership to establish a learning community from which all teachers will benefit.

Year One: This year is primarily focused on developing formal mentoring and coaching skills. Recognizing that the first year is pivotal for struggling new teachers, most of the mentoring support will focus on being responsive to the immediate needs of new teachers. Mentors will focus primarily on supporting the new teacher while elevating their own skills and knowledge of science and mathematics teaching and learning.

Year Two: This year focuses on guiding the new teacher to more sophisticated stages of learning and professional development that emphasize teaching and learning in a standards-based system. Mentees will work with their mentors to examine and implement successful strategies for curriculum, instruction, and assessment that are based on standards and informed by research. Mentors will continue to expand their knowledge about teaching and learning while building leadership skills and strategies for supporting school-wide professional development.

Year Three: In the final year, the goal is to have mentees emerge as “automentors” with an understanding of the use of NNECN’s tools and resources that will guide them in self-assessment of their own teaching and identify their strengths and weaknesses. This is a time for more focused reflection and application in preparation for submission of performance-based state requirements to obtain full certification. It is also a time when the third year teacher becomes an active and knowledgeable participant in the school learning community, encouraging and supporting other new mentees as they become folded into the fabric of school-wide and life long professional development.