Training Mentors Is Not Enough
Everything Else Schools and Districts Need to Do
- Hal Portner - Educational Consultant, Texas
"Portner's work provides all educators with a look at both the philosophical side of mentoring new teachers and the very practical side of operating an effective mentoring program. As the teacher shortage grows more pronounced, this book can be a basic blueprint for success in addressing recruitment, induction, and retention of the best possible teachers in any district, large or small, urban or suburban or rural."
Carl E. O'Connell, Mentor Program Coordinator
Rochester City School District and Rochester Teachers Association, NY
"This book is packed with practical suggestions and detailed hints on how a program can be set up and woven into the fabric of a school in a systemic way. Portner captures the ups and downs of mentoring relationships and proposes effective ways to keep mentoring programs energized."
Charles E. Gobron, Teacher Chair
Professional Development Council
Massachusetts Teachers Association
A roadmap for highly effective mentoring programs! Educator, program consultant, and author Hal Portner is an authority on how to craft a mentoring program that validates, supports, and celebrates every aspect of the mentor-mentee relationship. In Training Mentors Is Not Enough, Portner offers a how-to guide and workbook for planners and participants who want to develop an exemplary mentoring program or upgrade an existing one. This comprehensive, but accessible, resource also serves as a practical management tool for mentor program coordinators and committees.
Practical strategies and how-to points cover subjects like:
• Obtaining broad-based commitment and participation from key individuals and groups
• Understanding and working within the larger environment
• Forming and developing effective mentoring committees
• Roles and responsibilities of participants
• Pragmatic and effective policies, procedures, and resources
• Evaluating fledgling mentoring programs
• Analysis of recently developed models
Training Mentors Is Not Enough offers educators an expanded view of the mentoring process and serves as an essential resource for planning, managing, and evaluating mentoring programs. This book can also serve as a valuable supplemental text in educational leadership or program development courses and seminars.
"[Portner] provides concrete suggestions to overcome such problems as lack of time for the mentor-mentee relationship, the difficulty of prioritizing budget items as they relate to one’s mentoring program, providing compensation for mentors, and ethically and legally selecting the best mentors."