Missouri Mentors Distance Teachers
A creative approach to professional development at a distance
How can you help distance teachers grow professionally? With every county in the state offering distance education, Missouri’s professional development staff needed to support their distance teachers without requiring them to travel regularly for in-person training. Their solution? A distance mentoring program.
Initiated in 2004, the Missouri Mentor Program provides a unique approach to providing professional development and support for its distance teachers across the state.
The Process
Participants first get to know one another at a face-to-face training and then participate in email and phone communications and activities through the group’s online “teacher work room.” Each group is comprised of new, intermediate, and experienced distance teachers. Each group also includes teachers with varying content and technical expertise.
Through their mentor group, new teachers have a built-in support system where they can learn about effective instructional strategies and find answers to content area, state policy and technology questions. More experienced teachers learn how to mentor others and lead their group’s professional development activities. As new distance teachers are hired, they are brought into an existing mentoring group and provided with immediate support and technical expertise from a variety of sources.
The Results
The Mentor Program has been a huge success. Participants were surveyed to learn about their experiences and opinions of the program. They found much to praise and little to criticize. New teachers appreciated having others who could help them learn how to be good distance teachers, understand the educational software and curricula Missouri uses with its students, and figure out solutions to challenging teaching problems. Mentors enjoyed guiding their groups. Many participants were pleased to make new friends and to feel connected with others in their profession. Distance education has become an integral part of Missouri's adult education offerings. The state's Mentor Program continues to provide support to new and experienced distance teachers across the state.