The mentor requirements for the program are embedded in the candidate coursework. To ensure quality and consistent mentorship, all mentors will be required to participate in an online training. This training is a total of eight hours and can be completed across four weeks.
The process/requirement for designated subjects mentors is as follows:
- The district/school identifies and assigns a mentor during the program application process.
- Mentor requirements are: 3 or more years of successful teaching, a California clear credential and ability to commit to 2 years of support to the teacher candidate
The program then sends the mentor a welcome email which includes a request for a screenshot of their credential and a link for our new online mentor training. The mentor should be an experienced teacher (three or more years of teaching) in good standing with a clear credential. Mentor training is mandatory for all new mentors beginning January 2020.
The mentor will support the candidate throughout the 2 years of the program. The program expectation is that the mentor communicates monthly with the candidate and provides support as needed. Even if the candidate completes the coursework in one year, the mentor still needs to support the candidate as they teach the second year to fulfill clear credential requirements.
Throughout the two years in the program, the candidate and mentor will collaborate to complete observation cycles which will be submitted within the candidate coursework as an assignment. Each observation cycle includes a pre-observation conversation, an observation, and a post-observation conversation. This is designed to promote dialogue between the mentor and the candidate about what to observe, what was observed, and what the areas of strength and growth are moving forward. The cycles look like this:
District verifies that two years of mentoring were provided on the Verification of Teaching form.