New teachers are the future of agricultural education. Statistics indicate that a large proportion of classroom teachers leave teaching within their first five years. Beginning teachers often need leadership and guidance throughout their induction years.
Whether you are a new teacher seeking guidance or a veteran who would like to help new teachers learn the ropes, use the contacts on this page to get involved.
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Arizona currently has an informal program that pairs new teachers with a more established teacher in his or her district. Mentors and mentees are introduced to the mentoring process at the annual New Teacher Luncheon at the summer AATA Conference. Mentors and mentees recieve a handout that explains how the program works. This program is currently undergoing a revamping process, and should be completed by mid-late summer 2007. Check back for updates.
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Connecticut has a mentoring program for all new teachers called BEST (Beginning Eduator Support & Training). Typically more experienced ag. teachers try to mentor beginning ag. teachers, although nothing formal is in place.
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California California Polytechnic State University's Department of Agricultural Education and Communications and the California State Department of Education work together to provide support for first, second and third year ag ed teachers. Teacher mentors within each school district work with new ag education teachers. New teachers also attend a workshop in December and work with university faculty at professional regional meetings. For more information about California's program, visit http://teacherinduction.cfans.umn.edu/featured_induction_programs/default.htm
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Colorado Colorado contracts with an individual to visit each first year teacher a couple of times and provide evaluations to help guide them. During these visits, the mentor meets with the new teacher and his or her administrators. In addition to these face-to-face visits, the mentor also facilitates a new teacher inservice in September and March, and develops and maintains new instructor discussion, resource and file sharing through an online blackboard. See the evaluation that the mentor fills out during his/her new teacher visits. |
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No program specifically for ag teachers, but there is a mentoring program for all new teachers. Typically ag teachers are paired with other ag teachers, either within their own department or from a nearby school. For contact information, go to: http://www.doe.k12.de.us/programs/ntmentor/
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No mentoring program, but state staff members provide staff development for beginning teachers. All teachers are provided with three regional meetings, two GVATA conferences, and much complete Agriculture specific staff development each year.
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No formal program is currently in place. However, the University of Idaho does have a beginning teacher induction program that they offer and strongly encourage all new teachers to take. It is offered for credit, and some of the course work includes examples of their best teaching, program philosophy, program planning, and management. Also, as a state, all ag teachers in Idaho try to help out new teachers who come to their districts. For more information about the beginning teacher program at the University of Idaho, contact Dr. Lori Moore at lmoore@uidaho.edu
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| Indiana In addition to Indiana's Department of Education mentoring program for all new teachers, The Indiana Association of Agricultural Educators (IAAE) works to make a match between each new agriculture teacher and a more experienced agriculture educator within the organization. Right now, agriculture education students are contacted after they finish their student teaching and introduced to the mentoring program, and can elect whether they would like to participate. In an effort to ensure that the mentoring program is continually improving, the IAAE mentoring program coordinator meets with new teachers who have participated in the program and gathers feedback on how to make it more beneficial. Program participants are also recognized at the IAAE state banquet in the summer. Contact:
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Iowa Contact:
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Kansas has developed a well-laid out mentoring program that is scheduled to start in August 2007. Link to the document that outlines how their program will work. Tt includes the program outline, a mentor's job description, a schedule of events by month, and an outline of how they will obtain funding. -- A great resource for anyone looking to begin their own mentoring program or formalize the one that's already in place. Professional
Development Series for Novice Agricultural Educators of Kansas
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Kentucky Kentucky has an educational outreach program to assist new
and returning teachers. The New Teacher Workshops meet five
times during the year, typically over a Friday afternoon and
evening and Saturday. The first and final workshops are typically
the day before the state Career & Technical Education Conference.
New teachers may choose to work with their institution of higher
education to receive graduate credit. However, one of the greatest
benefits of NTW is the opportunity to network and to get answers
to burning ("teachable moment") questions that are
particularly important as new teachers commence on their professional
career as teachers of agriculture. The State Supervisors for Agriculture Education in Kentucky also make an effort to visit each new teacher during their first year. During the visits they talk about challenges, curriculum, CAERT, Skill Standards, FFA issues, etc. The Kentucky Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association also started a program in 2006 that matches first year ag teachers with a more experienced teacher from their region. The mentor checks in with the new teacher periodically throughout the year via phone, e-mail and personal visits. Here are some other ways KAVATA helps enourage and support new teachers:
Contact for New Teacher Workshops: Contact for KVATA mentoring program: |
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There is no program specifically for ag teachers, but Louisiana does have a formal assistance and assessment program for all new teachers. Through this program, all new teachers are assigned to a teacher mentor who has gone through preparatory training. Although not all teachers are assigned mentors who are from their same subject area, they do receive assistance in areas like lesson plans, classroom management, community involvement, etc. New teacher workshops are provided for agriscience teachers with between 0-5 years experience. These are normally held during the annual LVATA conference, summer professional development, and other opportunities throughout the year. These workshops cover curriculum/course offerings, Perkins legislation updates, industry certifications, career clusters, professional membership, etc. Contact:
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New teachers are required to have a mentor assigned through the local school district. As a teacher's organization, MAAE assigns new teachers to a mentor through a more informal mentoring process within each region of the state. Contact:
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Minnesota Minnesota's Teacher Induction Program (TIP) works to retain and improve the performance of entry-level teachers. Contributing partners include agriculture education faculty at the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Education, the Minnesota Ag. Ed. Leadership Council, and MAAE. The program utilizes senior mentors who serve 3-6 beginning teachers per mentor. These are usually recently retired ag teachers who have undergone mentoring training. These mentors make four personal visits each year to each new teacher. In addition to the personal visits, four workshops are held during the year for entry-level teachers. These are in August, October, January, and June. Teachers who are in the TIP program can recieve 2 credit hours towards their graduate degree. For more information about Minnesot's TIP program, visit http://teacherinduction.cfans.umn.edu/featured_induction_programs/default.htm
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Missouri Faculty from the University of Missouri Columbia, Northwest Missouri State University, Missouri State University and Central Missouri State University work together to provide a series of 3 sessions for first year agriculture teachers. Teachers who participate in this program are eligible for 2 graduate credits. Experienced ag teachers in neighboring schools or districts are also matched up with new teachers as mentors. For more information, visit
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Mentoring programs are done district by district, instead of on a state level. Most districts in Nevada are large with multiple teachers in each program. |
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New Jersey No formal program in place, other than the requirements that must be met by all new teachers in New Jersey. The state program leader for agriculture, food and natural resource education tries to meet with all new teachers before they begin teaching. |
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New Mexico No formal program in place. The officer team of the New Mexico Ag. Teachers' Association works to keep in contact with new teachers to offer any help or guidance they may need. Also, more experienced teachers make it a personal priority to help out new teachers in their area. |
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New York New York has a very informal program where volunteer teachers are matched with new teachers as guides. Activities include face-to face meetings, correspondence, and working together on projects. Contact: |
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North Carolina Works with new agriculture teachers at state teacher's conference to pair them with a teacher in the surrounding area. State Agriculture Education regional coordinators also check on new teachers and put them in touch with mentors. Contact: |
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North Dakota Although there is no formal program in place, the state staff tries to visit all first year teachers at least twice. New teachers are also encouraged to seek out the advice of more experienced teachers in their area. Contact:
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Oklahoma's state association is currently in the process of setting up a program. It will have a part time retired agriculture instructor working with new teachers. Currently mentoring is done by local agriculture education instructors and Oklahoma State University Staff working in cooperation with Oklahoma's state agriculture education staff. For more information about that program, visithttp://teacherinduction.cfans.umn.edu/featured_induction_programs/default.htm |
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Oregon Oregon's mentoring program is run through Oregon State University. It involves the OSU Agricultural Education Department and OVATA. Teacher mentors as well as Oregon State University faculty make personal visits to new teachers. Teachers also attend two in-service workshops, and can recieve 4-6 graduate credits for participation. Contact:
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State association matches first year teachers with experienced teachers in their area during the state ag. teacher's conference. The mentor is asked to make contact with the mentee at least once a month. There is also a website with important information especially for new ag teachers called "The Pennsylvania Ag. Teacher's Manual." The person who maintains this site also sends a monthly newsletter called "New and Beginning Teacher Notes" to remind mentors and first year teachers of upcoming items that they should discuss. Pennsylvania State University also assigns someone to visit each first year teacher at least once to make sure that they are on track. Contacts: Krista Pontius
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SDVATA has a big brother/sister program that assigns an experienced teacher with new teachers. Also teacher educators within the state hold new teacher meetings. The association also utilizes their state's ag education teacher listserv to communicate.
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Texas Texas has no mentoring program, but the Texas Education Agency, and the Department of Ag Education at Texas Tech University maintains a new Agricultural Teacher Resource Center website and hosts a workshop for new teachers during the Texas Vocational Agriculture Teachers Association meeting in the summer. For more information, visit |
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In addition to the required general induction program for all new teachers, Utah provides mentoring specific to agriculture teachers. Activites include helping pair new teachers with content-specific mentors, conducting professional development workshops for mentor teachers as well as beginning teachers, and following up with beginning teachers to evaluate how the program has met their needs. New teachers can also participate in three workshop sessions throughout the year, and can recieve 3 graduate credits. Contact:
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Mentors provide mentees with support, ideas, and curriculum sharing. Mentors' responsibilities include: contacting mentee on a regular basis, assisting them in FFA responsibilities and award applications, provide motivational materials, and sharing the knowledge and experience that the mentor has acquired and using it to help out their mentee. Contact: |
