This four-year Teacher Enhancement Renewal and Retention project will prepare 180 experienced teachers to be mentors for 360 novice science, mathematics and technology teachers. Over a span of three years each novice teacher will receive a minimum of 150 hours mentoring. The phased mentoring plan has each mentor teacher mentoring one novice teacher the first year, two the second year and three the third year. Mentors are supported by project personnel, their local districts and for travel to professional meetings to participate in the larger professional learning community of mentor teachers. The novice teachers receive the mentoring support plus educational materials and local district support. The project emphasizes a rigorous content-focused professional development (PD) curriculum, dictated in part by hiring practices that employ teachers who have not fully met state licensing standards. PD opportunities will be delivered through summer institutes and statewide conferences. Of the teachers who are supported directly by the project, 180 will serve as district and statewide content mentors for the states of Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.
