Hiring Policy
Mentoring for New Teachers: Georgia does not require a mentoring program or any other induction support for its new teachers.
Georgia has published a Teacher Induction Guidance document, which recommends that induction programs provide release time for teachers to meet with their mentors and to take part in professional development activities. The guidance document also recommends that new teachers not be assigned additional duties such as membership on committees. However, these appear to be voluntary guidelines for districts to follow.
Mentor Selection Criteria: Georgia does not establish criteria for mentor selection but recommends that districts participating in optional programs develop selection criteria for mentors and provide training.
Ensure that a high-quality mentoring experience is available to all new teachers, especially those in low-performing schools.
Georgia should ensure that all new teachers—especially teachers in low-performing schools—receive mentoring support, particularly in the first critical weeks of school.
Set specific parameters.
To ensure that all teachers receive high-quality mentoring, the state should specify how long the program lasts for a new teacher, set guidelines on the frequency and amount of time mentors and new teachers should meet, and specify a method of performance evaluation. The state should also set a timeline by which mentors are assigned to new teachers, ideally soon after the commencing of teaching.
Select high-quality mentors.
While still leaving districts with flexibility, Georgia should articulate minimum guidelines for the selection of high-quality mentors. It is particularly important that the mentors themselves are effective teachers. Teachers without evidence of effectiveness should not be eligible serve as mentors.
Georgia was helpful in providing NCTQ with facts that enhanced this analysis. The state also indicated that there is an annual Induction Summit that engages districts and other stakeholders in work around induction.
Too many new teachers are left to "sink or swim" when they begin teaching, leaving most new teachers overwhelmed and under-supported at the outset of their teaching careers. Although differences in preparation programs and routes to the classroom do affect readiness, even teachers from the most rigorous programs need support once they take on the myriad responsibilities of their own classroom.[1] A survival-of-the-fittest mentality prevails in many schools; figuring out how to successfully negotiate unfamiliar curricula, discipline and management issues, and labyrinthine school and district procedures is considered a rite of passage. However, new teacher frustrations are not limited to low performers. Many talented new teachers become disillusioned early by the lack of support they receive, and, particularly in our most high-needs schools, it is often the most talented teachers who start to explore other career options.[2][3]
Vague requirements simply to provide mentoring are insufficient. Although many states recognize the need to provide mentoring to new teachers, state policies merely indicating that mentoring should occur will not ensure that districts provide new teachers with quality mentoring experiences.[4] While allowing flexibility for districts to develop and implement programs in line with local priorities and resources, states also should articulate the minimum requirements for these programs in terms of the frequency and duration of mentoring and the qualifications of those serving as mentors.[5]