The Toolkit contains standards, guidelines, tools, and resources to help districts implement and/or develop a district Induction-with-Mentoring program designed to provide support services to new teachers. Ideally, support services would be provided to all educators (not just teachers) who are new to the profession, district, building, or grade level and be provided to educators during the first three years in which they are transitioning into the profession. In addition, it is recommended that such services be coordinated at the district level. However, we realize that districts just beginning a program may have to work toward these goals. Furthermore, because most research and resources focus on teacher induction and mentoring, this Toolkit’s primary focus is on teachers.

It is important to note that the Toolkit is not a program but a resource for districts to use when designing a new program or developing a program that is currently in existence in a school or district. Finally, this Toolkit is a work-in-progress, and we will continue to update it as more resources become available and as we gain feedback from districts on its usefulness, so watch for future revisions, noted by the date on the header and footer of each Toolkit section.

This Toolkit grew out of a New Hampshire Symposium on Attracting and Retaining Quality Educators, initiated in October 2000 (Read the symposium report Part 1 and Part 2.) The Symposium identified several priorities to be addressed by the State Board of Education (Read the Action Plan). One of these priorities was to investigate and make recommendations regarding mentoring for beginning educators.

Accordingly, the State Board authorized the New Hampshire Department of Education to create a Mentoring Task Force, whose charge was two-fold: (1) Develop recommendations to the State Board on how the State could best support the development of induction-with-mentoring services in New Hampshire schools; and (2) Develop standards and guidelines for induction-with-mentoring. The Task Force worked for six months and presented its recommendations and a beginning draft of the Toolkit to a group of reviewers and finally to the State Board in August 2002 (Read a copy of the Report).

Developing a final draft of the Toolkit proved to be more than a volunteer task force could accomplish in a short time period. However, some members of the Task Force expressed an interest in continuing the work, which was supported by a Best Schools grant for another year. Even after the Best Schools funding ended, the team was intent on finishing the Toolkit, which speaks to the unwavering commitment of its members to develop a tool designed to help districts support new educators.

As part of the federally funded Teacher Quality Enhancement Grant recently awarded to the New Hampshire Department of Education, the four Local Education Support Centers have been invited to submit proposals to work with a district or consortia of districts serviced by the center to help establish and/or develop an induction-with-mentoring program. The primary purpose of these projects is to develop and implement a consistent system of quality Induction-with-Mentoring and ongoing professional development that will support new teacher’s practice and improve teacher longevity in the profession.

Districts that may participate are those considered high need, which means the district did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), according to the New Hampshire definition of AYP for No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and they contain a school with at least 16% of its students eligible for free and reduced priced meals, as defined by the USDA School Lunch Program. Interested districts should contact their Local Educational Support Center via email (links below) or phone for more information: