Cheryl Kershaw, Ed.D.
Director, Urban Impact
University of Tennessee
College of Education
421 Claxton Complex
Knoxville, TN 37996-3400
tel: (865) 974-0502
fax: (865) 974-8718

The Mentoring Program

This is a school-based team effort to support the induction of interns and novice teachers in high need urban schools. Each school identifies a team of educators who, along with the principals, attend a two day Mentoring Workshop (sponsored by TASL, Tennessee Academy for School Leaders) in August to develop strategies for the year, a one day meeting in January to share what has been learned and continue to develop research based strategies. Teams at each elementary school consist of teachers from each grade level, one special area teacher, and all principals. At the secondary level, the teams include teachers in each of the core content areas (math, science, English, social studies) and a teacher from another content area along with principals. Each of the teams tailor their plans to their unique contexts, but share what they are learning with each other. The TASL office has adopted this program for use across the state in training mentoring teams.