News
State plans mentoring program in schools
Education officials announced plans Wednesday to launch a mentoring program pairing high-performing schools with those struggling to meet federal requirements.
The $600,000 proposal, to be funded by grants, is being proposed under Montana’s State Action for Educational Leadership Project, a national Wallace Foundation effort started in 2000 to help educators better teach students.
Associated Press
Fourteen other states also are participating.
Gov. Judy Martz praised the mentoring program as a way to bring the state in line with federal No Child Left Behind Act requirements.
"It grieves my heart when I see in the paper it says someone failed to meet the No Child Left Behind Act," said Martz, who added she believed that no one should be called a failure in education.
Under the mentoring program, five schools with high test scores and a track record of overcoming educational challenges, such as poverty and minority students, will be selected as adviser institutions.
The schools will likely be paired with one struggling school initially, but could help more if the program is successful, said Joanne Erickson, a Montana State professor who developed the program.
"It’s kind of like a large coaching-mentoring model," she said.
The program, which would start within the next year, calls for training and visits between teachers, principals and administrators from both schools. About $60,000 is also earmarked to each high-performing school to offset participation costs, Erickson said.
"Some of these schools, their resources are so scarce that no one would engage in the project if they thought it could take away" from their time and money, she said.
The idea behind such reforms is to redefine the role of teachers, principals and other staff members and make them educational leaders, rather than managers.
By doing that, project members say teachers will be better equipped to develop new skills and, in turn, improve student achievement.
"It’s a comprehensive approach to include all partners and get them together with policy-makers," said Steve Meloy, executive director of the Montana Board of Public Education.
Project members also hope the program will encourage more teachers to become administrators, who have become increasingly hard to find in recent years, he said.
Copyright © 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
MATR Supporters (view all)
Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.