Intensive Mentoring as a Way to Help Beginning Teachers Develop Balanced Instruction

Abstract

This study examines the impact of intensive mentoring as an induction program component aimed at improving teacher quality in ways that link teaching to student engagement. The Atmosphere, Instruction/Content, Management, and Student Engagement (AIMS) measure of teaching practice, focused on a research-based conception of high-quality teaching known as effective balanced instruction, was used to measure the impact of the intervention. Using a matched comparison group design with 24 beginning teachers, the study tested the effects on teaching practice of intensive mentoring. Findings indicate that the improvement in the beginning teachers' AIMS scores from fall to spring was greater for the experimental group than for the comparison group of teachers.