Enroll Your Early Career Teachers
Highly skilled and experienced educators are scarce, and Montana administrators have constrained resources for offering instructional mentoring to foster the growth of their newest teachers. The Montana Statewide Mentoring Program is part of a federal expansion grant in collaboration with the Alaska Statewide Mentoring Project. The partners in this project are Alliance for Curriculum Education (ACE), Salish Kootenai College, Office of Pubic Instruction, University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
Instructional Mentoring with Proven Results
Proven Results in Teacher Development
Independent, third-party research found that teachers participating in high-quality instructional coaching programs benefitted teachers’:
- Preparedness in basic teaching and classroom management skills
- Accurate representation of material
- Confidence in teaching content
- Willingness to experiment—particularly when traditional methods do not work
- Overall teacher satisfaction
- Rejuvenation for teaching
- Encouragement to remain in the field
The Costs and Benefits of a Comprehensive Induction Program
Any Montana school district (public or private) can participate, but the MSMP mentoring program will prioritize early career teachers in the ACE consortium and area schools with Salish Kootenai College.
What is the cost? Early career teachers will receive 70 hours of professional development and focused support over the school year. The school district is asked to contribute $500 per teacher (ACE schools $250 per teacher). Invoices will not be sent until after July 1, 2024.
Expectations: School leaders will be asked to communicate periodically with mentors and early career teachers and follow up on any challenges. Early career teachers’ support will be personalized to their areas of interest and challenges. Districts will be asked to sign an MOU as part of the enrollment.
Boot Camp: If already hired, early career teachers in ACE districts are encouraged to attend the Early Career Teacher Boot Camp on August 5-8 in Billings and meet their mentors. Mentors will meet weekly with new teachers during the 2024-25 school year (virtually and face-to-face).
ACE Schools: Registration for Montana State-Wide Mentoring Program
Not an ACE school? No problem! You can also register your early career teachers to participate: Registration for Early Career Bootcamp and/or Montana State-Wide Mentoring Program
To enroll your early career teacher(s) – please contact:
Alyson Mike, alyson_mike@mtace.org
or
Jenny Combs, jenny_combs@mtace.org
There are a limited number of slots available; early sign-up is encouraged.