Turner USD 202 Mentor Program

The Turner Unified School District believes in the growth and development of all employees. This belief is especially prevalent regarding teachers who are new to the district. Our goal is to make your early experiences in Turner comfortable and successful through a framework of support and guidance. The entire program is two-fold:

Mentor Program
A new employee coming in as a first or second year teacher is assigned a formal mentor at the beginning of the school year. "First year in the profession" teachers will be assigned a year-long mentor. "Second year in profession" teachers will be assigned a mentor for the first semester only.

Buddy System
A new employee coming in with at least two years of experience is assigned a "buddy" for more informal building and district orientation.

Mentor Program Components

• The general assistance and orientation is given in the classroom, building, and district level.
• Thirty observable behaviors are divided into multiple phases dealing with such things as classroom management, instruction, and student evaluation.
• Each phase includes a pre-conference to review observable behaviors, the actual observation, and then a post-conference to review the results on the observation.
• The post-conference is an avenue for feedback, assistance if needed, ideas for implementation, and general dialogue between the mentor and new teacher.
• This program is not tied to an evaluation/appraisal process; it stands as a means to provide positive, consistent support at an individual level.