MUSD teacher mentors take idea to D.C.

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The teacher mentor idea from five Maricopa teachers was chosen as one of 28 participants in the U.S. Department of Education’s Teach to Lead Summit.

The Maricopa Unified School District Governing Board voted to send the district’s four Master Teachers and one National Board Certified teacher to Washington, D.C.

“We feel like beginning teachers are not prepared enough for the real world of teaching,” Master Teacher Heidi Vratil said. “Our idea is that we need to match up pre-service teachers to Master Teachers and National Board Certified teachers earlier in their preparation so they have a mentor to stay with them and support them.”

According to Vratil, 50 percent of new teachers nationally leave the career field within five years. For the 2014-15 school year, the Maricopa school district developed a program for their new teachers to be mentored by their five Master Teachers in hopes of stopping this trend.

Last year, 27 new teachers started in the district. Of the 27 new teachers, 19 are returning for a second year, six have left the field, and two have taken jobs at other districts. With only 22 percent of the new class of teachers leaving the industry, Maricopa falls well under the national average.

Vratil stated the district will not only have the mentorship program for new teachers this coming school year, but they will also develop a tier system so second and third year teachers can continue to be mentored. Vratil is also hoping the program will be able to help current teachers who feel they may need a mentor as well.

***ADVERTISEMENT***“We have grown our mentors into amazing teacher leaders,” Vratil said. “Our mentees have assimilated a lot quicker to the campuses because they had someone to go to that solved the problems immediately. We also discovered last year that a lot of teachers [who] aren’t beginning teachers [who] really needed mentor support. So we will be negotiating that for next year.”

The mentorship program is funded by a federal grant for three years. The district will be able to apply for another three-year grant after the current funding runs out.