A program that matches new
principals with veteran principals
who are prepared to provide the
supports needed to ensure a
successful first year for their
colleagues.
Links to Content:
Demonstration Site:
Rhode Island
Association of School Principals (RIASP)
Target Population:
Newly appointed and veteran principals from the eleven
districts that comprise the
Northern Rhode Island Collaborative (Burrillville, Central
Falls, Cumberland, Glocester, Foster-Glocester, Johnston, Lincoln,
North Providence, North Smithfield, Pawtucket, Smithfield and
Woonsocket).
Need and Intent:
The Mentorship for New Principals Program matches new
principals with veteran principals from other districts who
agree to serve as mentors in order to produce strong school
leaders. The mentors are trained (by the Education
Partnership) to provide the proper mixture of guidance and
support to better enable new principals to navigate the “minefields”
that might otherwise “derail” their chances for
a successful first year on the job.
“The support provided by most districts
for new principals is minimal, at best.
As a result, it is not uncommon for new principals to experience
difficulties that limit their effectiveness and compromise their
ability to get the job done. The main problem is that new principals
are often reluctant to discuss problems with their supervisors
or even fellow principals because they fear being perceived
as ‘having problems.’ For example, a principal dealing
with a difficult faculty member may be reluctant to discuss
it with other administrators in the district because he/she
feels (knows?) that he/she did not handle the first encounter
with the truculent teacher very well. On the other hand, advice
from the mentor comes
without the penalty of a judgment or a lecture.”
- John Golden, Executive Director, RIASP
Background:
The Mentorship for New Principals Program is part of
RIASP’s Instructional Leadership Academy.
Click
here to view the brochure.
Implementation Guide:
- In early summer, superintendents are informed that veteran
principals from other districts will be available to serve
as mentors for their new principals in the fall.
- Working with other educational leaders, including the Director
of
the
Education Partnership’s statewide mentor training
institute,
potential mentors are identified in late June. The veteran
principals selected are contacted and recruited to serve as
mentors in the fall. They are told they will receive a small
stipend ($1000 per semester).
Click
here to read the expectations and application form for principal
mentors.
- As new principals are hired during the summer, their names
are sent to the Instructional Leadership Academy office and
are matched with the list of mentors according to their grade
level and potential for compatibility.
- New principals and mentors meet for a training session in
mid-August where expectations are outlined by the program
coordinator; time is provided for them to get to know one
another and for each pair to plan how, when, and where they
will stay in contact during the school year. All participants
receive a
list
of expectations for the mentoring program.
- During the school year, mentors are contacted by the program
coordinator on a monthly basis to ensure that routine and
regular communication is taking place between the mentor and
the new principal.
- All mentors and new principals get together with the coordinator
twice a year to discuss both what is working and what is not.
- An informal debriefing is held with all program participants
in June to provide feedback for program modification and improvement
as needed.
- After the completion of the year, mentors and veteran principals
are encouraged to continue to stay in contact and to let their
relationship evolve into a “critical friends”
group.
Tips for Implementation:
- Be sure to select mentors from neighboring districts rather
than from the district of the new principal as a means of
keeping internal politics from affecting the relationship.
- Formalize and coordinate all arrangements when attempting
to mentor new assistant principals. Because the workday of
assistant principals is dominated by building and student
management issues that frequently involve crises of one form
or another, it can be hard for a veteran assistant principal
to find the time to adequately mentor the novice assistant
principal. It may be necessary to match new assistant principals
with retired assistant principals or principals.
- Keep central office people in the loop about all activities
involving their new principals. “I think that we
were so concerned about ‘protecting’ the new principals
from criticism from their supervisors that we did not communication
as routinely as we should have with central office staff.
As a result, we became a stealth operation that was in many
ways invisible to central office. Had we communicated better,
we could have served both parties better by getting the perspective
of the supervisor regarding how well things were going.”
– John Golden, Executive Director, RIASP
- If the number of novice principals to be mentored is large,
it may be necessary to both recruit and take applications
for mentors.
Case Study:
A teacher has recently been appointed to be the new
principal of an elementary school. As a novice principal, she
has many concerns about her new faculty, her parents, and her
new relationship with students, as well as scores of technical
questions about how to do everything from conducting an opening
faculty meeting to how to schedule time for itinerant teachers.
A week before school opens the novice principal is introduced
to a veteran teacher from a neighboring district who has agreed
to serve as her mentor, and to share what she has learned during
her ten years as an elementary school principal. Using what
she learns from her mentor, the new principal has a smooth school
opening that gets her year off to a positive start.
Throughout the year, communication is ongoing. On a weekly
basis various issues/concerns are discussed. Some meetings are
face-to-face, but most communication is over the phone or via
email. Once a semester, both principals meet with other novice
principal/mentor teams to discuss common problems and to share
best practices. Although the formal mentoring arrangement ends
in June, the principals will continue to stay in contact the
following year, and as the novice principal becomes a veteran
principal, the relationship between the two matures into a “critical
friends” couplet.
Program Components and Materials:
Mentor
Principal Expectations and Application 
Program
Expectations
RIASP's
Instructional Leadership Academy brochure
Contact for More
Information:
Name: John Golden
Job Title: Executive Director, RIASP
Role in Project: Coordinator
Phone: (401) 272-9811 x18
E-mail: jgolden@riemc.org
Address: 600 Mt. Pleasant Avenue, RIC-Bldg#6, Providence,
RI 02908