An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of a Mentoring Program Designed to Develop School Turnaround Specialists

• In Event: 79.051 - MTCC Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: 79.051-1 - Leadership Experiences as Members in Learning Context

Abstract

This study evaluated a two-year research-based mentoring program designed to prepare principal candidates to become school turnaround specialists, This program was implemented in 2015 through a large United States Department of Education grant awarded to a state department of education in collaboration with three southern universities. Both survey and interview data collected in 2017 from the program graduates indicated the overall effectiveness of the program, mentee satisfaction with mentor qualities and mentor-mentee relationships, the benefits of mentor support, encouragement and intellectual stimulation, and the value of mentoring conversation and activities. Mentees' professional growth in leadership competence in improving student learning and school turnaround aligned with leadership standards were also reported along with lessons learned for program improvement.

Authors

• Brenda Jane Mendiola, The University of Alabama

• Jingping Sun, The University of Alabama

• Sijia Zhang, The University of Alabama