Frequently Asked Questions About the Mentoring Requirement
- Is a school district required to provide mentoring to the newly-certified Pupil Personnel Service (PPS) professionals that they hire?
- If a non-public school offers a mentored experience, what is the recommended documentation of such experiences?
- Does a school district need to provide mentoring experiences for per diem substitute teachers it employs who hold Initial certificates?
- Is a school district expected to provide mentoring for paraprofessionals in their employ?
- What is the relationship between the New York State-mandated mentoring for certification and teacher mentoring required in schools in need of improvement under No Child Left Behind legislation?
- Are non-public schools obligated to provide mentoring experiences for teachers in their employ holding an Initial certificate?
- If a district employs teachers who hold Transitional B certificates, is the district required to provide mentoring for these teachers?
- What is the principal’s role with respect to the new teacher if the teacher is being served in the mentored program?
- Must the mentoring provided to Initial certificate holders be certificate specific—does the mentor need to be certified in the same subject area as the first year teacher to whom they are providing service?
- Must mentors be assigned to provide service on a 1:1 ratio with the new teachers in the district?
- May districts hire retired teachers as mentors?
- Am I required to complete a mentored experience while teaching with an internship certificate?
- An individual has worked in our district for two years under an Internship certificate. Once he obtains his Initial certificate, we plan to retain him in the district. Do we still have to provide mentoring for this teacher since he already has been teaching for two years in our school?
- Are charter schools required to provide mentoring experiences for teachers in their employment who are teaching under Initial certificates?
- If the district hires a person who holds an Initial teaching certificate as a teaching assistant, is the district required to provide a mentored experience to him or her, if the certificate holder is in the first year of the Initial certificate validity period?
- What documentation must a New York State school district maintain regarding the completed mentoring experiences of Initial certificate holders?
- I hold more than one Initial Certificate, (ex: Early Childhood Education (Birth-Grade 2) and Childhood Education (Grades 1-6)). Does one mentoring experience satisfy the requirement for all my Initial certificates?
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As a new teacher with an Initial certificate, am I supposed to receive one year of mentoring or am I required to mentor another teacher?
The purpose of the mentoring requirement is to provide a new teacher with support in order to gain skillfulness and more easily make the transition to one’s first professional teaching experience. Therefore, new Initial certificate holders are to receive mentoring from an experienced teacher. top -
Must all teachers holding Initial classroom teaching certificates complete a mentored experience in their first year of teaching in a public school?
No. If a teacher has had at least two years of teaching prior to service in a public school under an Initial certificate, the teacher is exempt from the requirement to complete a mentored experience. top -
Is a school district required to provide mentoring to the newly-certified Pupil Personnel Service (PPS) professionals that they hire?
No. Since all of the PPS certificate titles lead to the "old" certificate series (Provisional/Permanent), mentoring is not required. Although it is good practice, the decision to include these individuals in a school’s mentoring program is a local decision. top -
If a non-public school offers a mentored experience, what is the recommended documentation of such experiences?
It is recommended that non-public schools keep the same documentation that is required of public schools relative to mentoring experiences. This documentation includes: the names and teacher certificate numbers of beginning teachers served and those who provided the mentoring; types of mentoring activities, and total hours of mentoring successfully completed. Non-public schools may submit verification of mentoring using the form Superintendent Verification of Mentored Experience
(35KB). top -
Does a school district need to provide mentoring experiences for per diem substitute teachers it employs who hold Initial certificates?
There are two answers depending on the duration of the employment.-
If the Initial certificate holder is in his or her first year of teaching and is employed in the district for more than 40 contiguous days (approximately .22 FTE), the district must provide mentoring to such long-term substitute teachers.
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If the Initial certificate holder is in his or her first year of teaching and is employed in the district 40 days (approximately .22 FTE) or less, the district is not obliged to provide mentoring to such short-term substitute teachers. However, section 100.2 dd (district professional development plans) calls for the district to plan and provide substantial professional development opportunities for all teachers in the district. It is highly recommended that districts provide all instructional staff with appropriate and focused professional development, to help students achieve consistent with State learning standards. top
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- Is a school district expected to provide mentoring for paraprofessionals in their employ?
No, the obligation for a mentored experience in the first year of the teaching profession pertains to classroom teachers or school building leader holding Initial certificates only. top
- What is the relationship between the New York State-mandated mentoring for certification and teacher mentoring required in schools in need of improvement under No Child Left Behind legislation?
Teachers with NYS Initial teaching certificates must complete a mentored experience in their first year in the teaching profession. School districts must plan and implement teacher-mentoring programs to serve teachers in their employ who are obligated to have such mentored experiences, in any school within the district. A framework for these experiences is provided in section 100.2 (dd) (2) (iv) of Commissioner’s Regulations (district professional development plans). See the amended language of the regulation http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/part100/pages/1002.html#dd. top
NCLB-mandated teacher mentoring is school-centered and not necessarily limited to first year teachers. However, the mentoring program for new teachers described in a district’s professional development plan and NCLB-mandated mentoring provided in the context of school improvement plans should be coordinated. For example, the mentor selection process designed and reflected in the professional development plan for Initial certificate holders might be employed to select mentors for NCLB mandated mentoring. top
- Are non-public schools obligated to provide mentoring experiences for teachers in their employ holding an Initial certificate?
No. While the regulation for district professional development planning and mentoring experiences for Initial certificate holders does not explicitly apply to non-public schools, we encourage non-public schools to support their novice teachers by providing a mentored experience as a means to increase instructional skillfulness as they transition from preparation to professional teaching and to promote teacher retention. Non-public schools may submit verification of mentoring using the form Superintendent Verification of Mentored Experience (35KB). top
- If a district employs teachers who hold Transitional B certificates, is the district required to provide mentoring for these teachers?
Yes, holders of Transitional B and Transitional C teaching certificates must receive mentoring, but there are differences in regulatory mandates for these certificate holders vs. those for the Initial certificate holder. See the comparison chart below.Transitional B classroom teaching certificate
Transitional C classroom teaching certificate
Initial or Conditional Initial classroom teaching certificate
Period in which mentoring must be provided
Entire period of teaching contract (2-3 years)
Entire period of teaching contract (2-3 years)
First year of teaching only
Specific time requirements of mentoring
Daily for the first 40 days, thereafter negotiated by the college, certificate holder and school district
Daily for the first 20 days; thereafter negotiated by the college, certificate holder, and school district
To be determined locally
Specific Program Components
Scheduled Mentoring activities to include planning, observation, advisement, assessment of skills by the mentor
Scheduled Mentoring activities to include planning, observation, advisement, assessment of skills by the mentor
Mentor’s primary role is that of guidance and support. The mentor’s role may also be evaluative, if this responsibility is reflected in the collective bargaining agreement;
Publicized mentor selection process;
Defined mentoring activities;
Mentor preparation;
Time allocation for mentoring activities to take place;
District Record-keeping requirements;
Program elements are negotiated as called for by the Taylor Law
Mandated Participants
Certificate holder, mentor, principal, and supervising college faculty
Certificate holder, mentor, principal, and supervising college faculty
Mentor and assigned 1st year teacher
Program is described in
Agreement between preparing college, certificate holder, and school district
Agreement between preparing college, certificate holder, and school district
District Professional Development
Plan
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What is the principal’s role with respect to the new teacher if the teacher is being served in the mentored program?
The principal, as the instructional leader of the school, continues to provide supervision and direction through annual professional performance reviews and other means, designed to increase skillfulness of all teachers in the school and student achievement consistent State learning standards. While a principal may also provide mentoring to new teachers in his or her building, it is recommended that persons other than the building principal be the primary providers of mentoring. Keep in mind that mentoring can be a very time-consuming enterprise, particularly early in the school year, and availability of the mentor to those served is critical. New teachers in the school are best served by persons whose time is dedicated totally or in part to mentoring beginning teachers in the school or district.
It is recommended that principals take on such vital roles as participating in the design of the program, selecting mentors, supporting the program with other teachers and parents, assisting in coordination of scheduling the mentoring, and in evaluating the impact of the program. top - Must the mentoring provided to Initial certificate holders be certificate specific—does the mentor need to be certified in the same subject area as the first year teacher to whom they are providing service?
No. While it is certainly desirable for the mentor and mentee to be certified in and teach the same subject, it is not mandated. The mentoring experience can be effective, even if the mentor is in a different certificate area. top
- Must mentors be assigned to provide service on a 1:1 ratio with the new teachers in the district?
No. A variety of configurations are allowed. It is recommended however, that if a mentor provides services to multiple teachers, the ratios not exceed 1:10 and a smaller ratio be maintained if their assigned teachers (mentees) are located in different school buildings. top
- May districts hire retired teachers as mentors?
Yes. Persons who have valid NYS teaching certificates and have gone through the district’s selection process may serve as mentors. top
- Am I required to complete a mentored experience while teaching with an internship certificate?
No. top
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A new teacher with an Initial certificate must receive mentoring in the first year of teaching under that certificate, unless the has had two years of prior teaching experience. However, prior teaching experience does not mean employment under an Internship certificate, as a student teaching experience, etc. In these cases, the individual is still considered a student, not a certified teacher. Once the person becomes a full-fledged teacher (Initially certified with all the responsibilities of his own classroom), the mentoring requirement is intended to help the teacher make the transition from pre-service teacher to beginning professional. So yes, even if you have an individual who has served a two-year internship in your district who now has earned his Initial certificate, he must receive mentoring in the first year as a certified teacher. However, since this teacher already knows a lot about teaching in your district and, in turn, the district knows their strengths and needs, it would be reasonable for you to tailor your mentoring activities to fit the situation. Remember, mentoring programs are locally designed and can look very different in different schools and contexts. top
- Are charter schools required to provide mentoring experiences for teachers in their employment who are teaching under Initial certificates?
Section 100.2(dd)(iv) does not require charter schools to provide mentoring experiences for teachers holding Initial certificates in their employment. However, charter school boards of trustees are encouraged to support their novice teachers by providing a mentored experience as a means to increase instructional skillfulness as they transition from preparation to professional teaching and to promote teacher retention. top
- If the district hires a person who holds an Initial teaching certificate as a teaching assistant, is the district required to provide a mentored experience to him or her, if the certificate holder is in the first year of the Initial certificate validity period?
The district is not required to provided the mentored experience to the certificate holder, as the intent of the requirement is to support a beginning classroom teacher he or she transitions from pre service preparation to the full responsibility of classroom teaching. However, if the certificate holder is hired as a classroom teacher in the following year, the mentoring experience must be provided. top
- What documentation must a New York State school district maintain regarding the completed mentoring experiences of Initial certificate holders?
Required documentation for completed mentored experiences includes: the names and teacher certificate numbers of beginning teachers served and those who provided the mentoring; types of mentoring activities, and total hours of mentoring successfully completed. top
- I hold more than one Initial Certificate, (ex: Early Childhood Education (Birth-Grade 2) and Childhood Education (Grades 1-6)). Does one mentoring experience satisfy the requirement for all my Initial certificates?
Yes, you only need to complete one mentoring experience in order to fulfill the mentoring requirement for the Professional certificate. top
While not required, it is strongly recommended that all mandated mentoring in a district follow the framework provided in section 100.2 (dd) (1)(iv) of the Commissioner’s Regulations. top