MENTORING TEACHERS TOWARD EXCELLENCE：SUPPORTING AND DEVELOPING HIGHLY QUALIFIED TEACHERS

Every year, more than 15,000 teachers vie for the chance to become certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. Although the process is voluntary, National Board Certification is a widely recognized mark of distinction and is increasingly tied to leadership opportunities for teachers, salary increases, and improved student learning in classrooms. Mentors provide supportive services for teachers during their candidacy, offering strategies for standards-based analysis of practice, constructive criticism, advice, and moral support. These mentor groups have grown from informal groups to organized networks of expert teachers in every region of the country. Mentoring Teachers Toward Excellence is the first book to document the common challenges facing these "support providers," presenting a variety of brief cases of typical mentoring dilemmas in both one-on-one and group settings.

Judith H. Shulman is director of the Institute for Case Development and the National Board Support Network at WestEd, where she conducts professional development and technical assistance that facilitate quality teacher instruction.

Mistilina Sato, a former teacher, is an assistant professor of teacher development and science education at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and former director of the National Board Resource Center at Stanford University.

Foreword by Sharon Feiman-Nemser.

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

The Sponsor.

The Editors.

The Contributors.

Introduction: Mentoring Practitioners Toward Standards of Excellence (Mistilina Sato).

PART ONE: THE ROLE OF THE MENTOR.

1. The Conflicting Roles of a Support Provider.

2. Facilitating from the Sidelines: Balancing Group Collaboration and Facilitator Expertise.

PART TWO: VISION OF ACCOMPLISHED TEACHING.

3. What to Do About Jake.

4. Getting a Small Group on Board with the Standards.

PART THREE: COMPLEXITIES OF EFFECTIVE MENTORING.

5. What Do You Do When Bias Sneaks In?

6. The Facilitator, the Candidate, and the Mushy Brains: Working with Biases of a National Board Candidate.

7. Facilitating the Writing Process.

PART FOUR: STRUCTURING GROUP PROCESS.

8. National Board Readiness: Is There a Right Time?

9. Why Are All the Black Teachers Sitting Together?

PART FIVE: SETTING BOUNDARIES.

10. Managing the Mentoring Relationship.

11. Mission Impossible: The Exasperating Mentee.

PART SIX: MENTORING ONE’ S COLLEAGUES.

12. A Circle of National Board Certification Friends.

13 Can We Really Teach Like This?

14. Conclusion: Making the Most of Case Discussions.

APPENDIX. Working with Case Writers: A Methodological Note.

Selected Annotated Bibliography.

Index.