Abstract:
Throughout the United States school systems are aware of the teacher shortage. The projected need to fill 2.2 million positions by 2010 will increase throughout the educational field, especially in areas of high poverty schools and particular content areas. Therefore, it is crucial to provide the best type of mentoring program to retain the best and brightest teachers in the educational field. The purpose of this mixed method study was to examine the perceptions of first-year teachers and their mentors regarding their school system's mentoring program. Furthermore, this study examined the perceived effects of the program. The results of the study indicated that the mentoring program appeared to be nurturing as perceived by the first-year teachers. Their mentors perceived the program to be beneficial. The recommendations for future studies suggested that mentoring programs should try to match mentees and mentors as much as possible, carefully train and caution mentors with regard to establishing appropriate professional relationships with mentees and do professional development with mentees as well as mentors before the program begins.
