The SACE (Support, Accessibility, Collaboration, and Equity) Framework for Division-Wide New Teacher Mentoring/Induction

• In Event: Looking at Mentoring from a PK–12 School District Perspective

Abstract

Comprehensive mentoring and induction can counteract teacher attrition. The purpose of this case study was to determine the features of a divisionwide, job-embedded mentoring/induction program. Research questions included, How do elementary practitioners involved in formal mentoring describe it? What was the perceived effect of COVID-19 on this program? Interviewed were mentor teachers, principals, and new teachers within three elementary schools in the southern USA. As found, while the program was operating in the crisis, it did not uniformly demonstrate consistency and fidelity. With the uneven quality, equitable support was seen as a need. Equity-embedded SAC was theorized as support, accessibility, collaboration, and equity (SACE), a new framework. It is time for equity to be recognized as a crucial programmatic feature.

Author

• Carol A. Mullen, Virginia Tech