Head Start Mentor Teachers Impact Child Outcomes in Protégé Teachers’ Classrooms

摘要

This study describes the results of an evaluation of the Individualized Learning Intervention, a mentoring program for early childhood educators. This mentoring program includes 3 components: Mentor Teacher Seminar, Mentor teachers supporting professional development of Protégé teachers throughout the school year, and Mentor coordinator meetings with Mentor teachers to support them in their mentor role. Sixteen Mentors, experienced teachers who maintained high quality classroom learning experiences, and 16 Protégés, less experienced teachers, in Head Start classrooms were selected and then randomly assigned to treatment and control conditions in the study. The results of this study demonstrate that mentoring, particularly when it is delivered by experienced teachers who have been trained to be Mentors and coupled by support to the Mentors themselves, can enhance the cognitive, language, and social emotional developmental progress of young children. In addition, the experimental Mentors and Protégé teachers reported enhanced professional growth.View full textDownload full textKeywordsmentor, professional development, Head Start, child outcomesRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15240754.2011.561143