General Information on Mentoring
Statistics:
• “Teachers new to the profession are more likely to leave than their more experienced counterparts.” – Is There Really a Teacher Shortage? By Richard Ingersoll
• According to the National Education Association, in urban districts, 50 percent of newcomers leave the profession within their first five years.
• According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 88 percent of new teachers involved in mentoring programs that meet once a week report substantial improvement to their instructional skills.
Characteristics of Successful Mentors
• Experienced and successful individuals in their fields
• Able to understand and accept problems protégés are experiencing
• Show empathy
Characteristics of Successful Mentoring Programs
• Mentor programs fit within the mission and goals of the parent organization
• Programs and mentors have firm understanding of the needs of the target market on a macro- and micro-level through needs assessment analysis
• The mentor program will check regularly with mentors and protégés to ensure that the needs of protégés are being met
• Weekly or semi-monthly sessions between protégés and mentors
Protégé Possibilities
- Classroom management
- Classroom organization
- Timelines for tasks
- Rehearsal techniques
- Pedagogical knowledge and skills
- Instruments and equipment
- Paperwork (TAKS testing, purchase requisitions, tardy slips, report cards, etc…)
- Cooperating with parents and administration
- Fundraising
- Coordination of private lessons
- Recruitment
- Content, repertoire, programming
- Concert preparation
- UIL organization and preparation
- Campus and community involvement
- Parental contact
- Dealing with stress
Objectives for Music Education Resource Network (MERN) to be Successful
• Semi-annual updated list of active music educators obtained from region chairs and school districts to update database of new music educators
• Mentors and affiliates proactively contact new music educators
• Mentors provide developmental assistance to young educators
• The Foundation for Music Education will periodically check up on new music educators utilizing MERN to see that their goals are being accomplished with the help of their mentor
• Each mentor helps to prioritize their protégé’s ambitions and provide direction to achieve goals
• End-of-semester analysis from mentors and protégés regarding effectiveness of program and areas for
improvements
This summer, two former band students and a former band parent took a busload of supplies to Joplin. I had read your appeal, and I sent an old but very playable Normandy clarinet with the group. The supplies were unloaded at a Baptist church. A man who helped unload the bus had lost everything due to the tornado, and he had a young daughter who was enrolling in band for this school year. My former band parent told the man that the instrument was sent for his daughter. Thank you for your work.