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##  Principal Mentoring. ERIC Digest.                                            

To help their new principals succeed, more school districts are                 capitalizing on the expertise of their senior administrators by                 adding mentor programs to the mix of practical training programs for            beginning principals. 
School boards and district officials                    recognize that formal preparation for the principalship must include            a practical component that can impart real-life skills. This part of            principal training is usually termed an apprenticeship or                       internship, and its success, or lack of success, resides in myriad              factors. The effectiveness of this hands-on training has become more            important as the growing shortage of school leaders threatens the               quality of education in the United States. 
Ironically, education              itself does not seem to be the limiting factor in the principal                 shortage, since nearly half of the nation's public school teachers              have earned advanced degrees. But relatively few of these                       teachers-the natural pool for future leaders-have expressed interest            in becoming principals. This lack of interest, combined with U.S.               Department of Labor projections that 40 percent of the country's                93,200 principals are nearing retirement, highlights the need to                call on the graying generation of school leaders to become mentors              to those who will be entrusted with our schools (Blackman and                   Fenwick 2000). 
This Digest examines the nature of mentorships and             discusses how these relationships can prepare principals for the                next stage of their careers. WHAT IS MENTORING?Mentoring takes            its name from Homer's Odyssey. Ulysseus, before departing for Troy,             entrusts his son to a wise friend, Mentor. Mentor serves not only as            a counselor to the prince during Ulysseus' twenty-year absence, but             also as guardian and guide. Most important, Mentor does not replace             Ulysseus in the parental role; rather, Mentor, with the help of the             goddess Athena, helps the young prince to understand and embrace the            difficulties that lie before him. 
The task of the mentor, then, is            to define a unique relationship with his or her protege and fulfill             a need unmet by any other relationship (Samier 2000). The best                  mentors are teacher/sages who act to the best of their ability                  within plain sight of the protege and who engage in a compassionate             and mutual search for wisdom (Bell 1996). 
Although mentoring has              existed for thousands of years, it is only in the last thirty years             that mentor-protege relationships have received increasing academic             and professional interest. Much of this research initially focused              on "classical mentoring," in which a protege, more by chance than by            merit, found a mentor willing to serve as guide and counselor.                  Although valuable in the relationships that it fostered and the                 leaders that it produced, such mentoring tended toward "like                    producing like," which meant that women and minorities frequently               fell to the wayside. Formalized mentoring programs helped correct               these inequities, but these artificial unions usually lacked                    organizational support and even engendered resentment among mentors             who had little or no say in choosing their proteges (Samier                     2000). 
Increasing evidence suggests that matching an intern to the            appropriate school and to the right mentor are critical components              of the intern's education. Districts must therefore be ready to work            closely with these programs to ensure that their schools benefit                from an appropriate match (Cordeiro and Smith-Sloan                             1995). 
Although advanced university education will continue to                dominate preparatory requirements, such training must be combined               with in situ practice-of the right length, at the right place, with             the right mentor-to help new principals acquire the practical                   knowledge and characteristic behaviors that typify successful                   principals. WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF PRINCIPAL-MENTORING                     PROGRAMS?Numerous school systems have begun                                 principal-preparation programs that produce effective leaders. For              example, Albuquerque Public Schools' Extra Support for                          Principals (ESP) program originated in 1994 when a group of                     elementary, middle, and high school principals examined how best to             develop a support system for new principals. The resulting program              features a coordinator who examines beginning principals'                       backgrounds, asks them to supply a list of experienced principals               with whom they would like to work, and then matches them with                   veteran leaders. Results indicate that new principals, as well as               their mentors, benefit significantly from ESP (Weingartner                      2001). 
Another program, established by the Southern Regional                  Education Board's Leadership Academy, focuses on developing                     effective leadership styles that will have a direct impact on                   schools. An important component of the academy is the mentoring                 program, which assigns an external peer coach to each district team.            The coach, who is a skilled leader in education, provides technical             assistance and collects information from participants to help them              develop as leaders (Crews and Weakley 1996). 
Many school systems              such as Albuquerque's have looked within to establish mentoring                 programs. The key to any approach is for educational leaders to                 recognize the uniqueness of their circumstances and to establish a              program that reflects their community's needs. 
For example, the               shortage of qualified candidates for school-leadership positions led            Santa Cruz County to gather local experts to come up with a solution            to this problem. These gatherings, entitled "Growing Our Own," arose            in part from dissatisfaction over the traditional role played by                assistant principals, who were usually assigned a narrow range of               responsibilities. Santa Cruz educators decided to reinvent the                  principal/assistant-principal relationship by establishing a                    mentor-apprentice agreement that committed the parties to shared                outcomes. This program emphasizes teamwork while pursuing the stated            goal of producing future school leaders who have the skills,                    attitudes, behaviors, and courage to lead public schools (Bloom and             Krovetz 2001). WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES IN FORMING MENTOR-PROTEGE              RELATIONSHIPS?Artificially constructed mentor-protege                       relationships can create difficulties. Researchers have long                    recognized that not all persons make suitable mentors and that the              best mentors display certain traits, such as their ability to coach,            to sponsor, and to serve as a role model. But even the most                     accomplished mentors can fail to connect with a protege, resulting              in a neutral-effect relationship, at best. 
Race and gender issues             further complicate the formation of mentor-protege relationships.               Ninety-six percent of the nation's public-school superintendents,               over 80 percent of school-board presidents, and 60 percent of all               principals are white males, whereas more than 73 percent of all                 teachers (and future leaders) are women (Blackman and Fenwick).                 Informal mentoring relationships could form easily when most school             leaders were white and male. 
As recently as 1988, only 2 percent              of principals were women, meaning that principals who sought a role             model did not have to contend with the complications presented by               race and gender (Blackman and Fenwick). In recent years, the                    composition of the principalship has changed dramatically, with 35              percent of all principals now being women. Many of these women are              younger principals who need mentors but cannot rely on traditional              avenues for forming such relationships. This same challenge faces               the 13 percent of principals who belong to minority                             groups. 
Clearly, school boards, district officials, and                       universities must work together to help principals, those just                  beginning and those who have sat in the principal's chair for a                 number of years, to draw on the accumulated wisdom from which all               can benefit. HOW SHOULD MENTORS AND PROTEGES BE PAIRED?To                 avoid unproductive mentor-protege assignments, various tools, such              as the Mentor Identification Instrument, have been developed that               identify those individuals who possess the needed skills and talents            to nurture interns and proteges. By distinguishing those best                   qualified to mentor, school systems can create an effective                     mentoring program (Geismar and others 2000). 
The decision to pair             a mentor with a protege should take into consideration the locations            and characteristics of the schools in which the two principals are              or will be assigned. All districts have suffered through                        incompatibilities between schools and principals, and since every               district has distinct opportunities and leadership needs,                       mentorships must be arranged in such a way to meet these                        needs. 
Urban school districts with high-poverty rates, for                    example, face particular challenges, and it can be a daunting task              to find the person best suited for such positions. One tool that can            help urban districts in both selection of new principals and                    subsequent pairing with mentors is the Haberman Urban Principal                 Selection Interview. This instrument operates on the belief that the            most successful principals are doers and thinkers, and that their               career objectives are built on core beliefs. The instrument                     therefore attempts to identify those who can bring a combination of             ideology and action to the principalship. These individuals can then            be paired with "Star Principals," those who have demonstrated                   success in their schools and who exhibit similar characteristics, so            that the interns can observe these belief systems in                            operation (Haberman and Dill 1999). HOW LONG SHOULD A PRINCIPAL BE            IN RELATIONSHIP WITH A MENTOR?Formal mentoring programs such as             apprenticeships and internships vary widely in their duration. Some             institutions require fewer than 165 hours, whereas others dictate in            excess of 632 hours of internship (Cordeiro and Smith-Sloan                     1995). 
Researchers are beginning to realize that mentor                       relationships should not be limited to the early stages of a                    principal's training. Even established school leaders can benefit               from a mentor when trying to navigate the particularly difficult                problems that all principals encounter. This ongoing relationship               not only gives a leader an added perspective to any problem, it also            prepares principals to become a mentor in their own right, thus                 deepening the pool of experienced persons who can advise future                 generations (Crow and Matthews 1998). RESOURCESBell, Chip R.              Managers as Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning. San                    Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 1996. 
Blackman,                  Mildred Collins, and Leslie T. Fenwick. "The Principalship."                    Education Week on the Web  (March 29, 2000): 2 pages. 
Bloom, Gary,            and Marty Krovetz. "A Step into the Principalship."                             Leadership (January/February 2001): 12-13. 
Cordeiro, Paula A., and            Ellen Smith-Sloan. "Apprenticeships for Administrative Interns:                 Learning To Talk Like a Principal." Paper Presented at the Annual               Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San                   Francisco, April 18-22, 1995. 36 pages. 
Crews, Alton C., and Sonya            Weakley. Making Leadership Happen: The SREB Model for Leadership                Development. Atlanta: Southern Regional Education Board,                        1996. 
Crow, Gary M., and L. Joseph Matthews. Finding One's Way:               How Mentoring Can Lead to Dynamic Leadership. Thousand Oaks,                    California: Corwin Press, 1998. 
Geismar, Thomas J.; John D.                   Morris; and Mary G. Lieberman. "Selecting Mentors as Principalship              Interns." Journal of School Leadership 10 (May 2000):                           233-47. 
Haberman, Martin, and Vicky Dill. "Selecting Star                     Principals for Schools Serving Children in Poverty." Instructional              Leader 12, 1 (January 1999): 1-12. 
Samier, Eugene. "Public                    Administration Mentorship: Conceptual and Pragmatic Considerations."            Journal of Educational Administration 38, 1 (2000):                             83-101. 
Weingartner, Carl J. "Albuquerque Principals Have ESP,"               Principal. A Product of the ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational                   Management, College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene,                 Oregon, 97403-5207. 
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This publication was prepared with                funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement,                U.S. Department of Education, under contract No. ED-99-C0-0011. The             ideas and opinions expressed in this Digest do not necessarily                  reflect the positions or policies of OERI, ED, or the Clearinghouse.            This Digest is in the public domain and may be freely reproduced.               The text of this Digest may be viewed electronically at                         http://eric.uoregon.edu EA 031 068.                                          **Title:** Principal Mentoring. ERIC Digest.                                            **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, 5207 University of                Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-5207. Tel: 800-438-8841 (Toll Free); Fax:              541-346-2334. For full text: http://eric.uoregon.edu.                        **Descriptors:**  Administrator Education, Administrator Effectiveness, Elementary               Secondary Education,  Management Development,  Mentors,  Principals          **Identifiers:** ERIC Digests                                                                 
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