Dissertation writing help - The alignment of state policy implementation with best practices for new principal mentorship

Custom Dissertation Writing Service on mentorship increase new principals

This study examines principal mentoring practices in Wisconsin. Particular attention is paid to practices deemed promising in the literature on mentoring for improving principals' capacity for instructional leadership. The implementation of Wisconsin's policy for administrator mentoring and teacher is also examined. Wisconsin's administrative licensing regulations provide an impetus for mentoring that needs all new principals licensed as initial administrators to receive mentoring in their new district of employment for a minimum of one academic year. This mentoring is to include "ongoing orientation from the employing school district which is collaboratively developed; support seminars which reflect the standards in ... subchapter II and the mission and goals of the school district; and a qualified mentor".

The subsequent questions guide the study:

• What literature-based mentoring activities and practices are being implemented in Wisconsin and, in particular, in what ways are they affecting mentor-mentee interactions?

• To what extent did mentorship increase new principals' confidence in key leadership domains?

Through examination of the literature that explain the need for an increased focus on building instructional leadership skills of new principals, the elements of instructional leadership needed to improve student learning, and effective learning experiences inherent in mentoring, this study suggests a framework of mentoring topics that holds promise for increasing the instructional leadership skills of new principals. The research tool of this study was a survey administered to newly licensed principals to discover the extent to which their experiences with mentoring align with this framework of mentoring topics.

This study provides guidance to school districts and professional organizations as they create mentoring programs to focus on and increase the instructional leadership of new principals.