Fostering the Success of New Teachers: Developing Lead Teachers in a Statewide Teacher Mentoring Program

Though there may be many reasons for teacher attrition and mobility, results from a recent survey conducted by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) suggest that an exceedingly high percentage of teachers who abandoned their careers as teachers may have entered the teaching profession under-prepared, overwhelmed, and under-supported — resulting in frustrated teachers who became burned out after only a few years of teaching (Marvel, Lyter, Peltola, Stitzek, & Morton, 2006). Global research documents that mentoring must be emphasized if teachers are going to experience success during the induction phase of their career and become more likely to remain in the profession. Developing teacher leaders that have the dispositions to mentor, such as those in the Alabama Teacher Mentor Program, can help meet these challenges as teachers lead teachers through mentoring. The manuscript presents an overview and impact of a statewide mentoring initiative that embraces one role of teacher leaders.