Selection of mentors should be accomplished with care enabling only high-quality teachers to be mentors. To promote buy-in to the program, peers should be involved in the selection process. To assess their effectiveness, pairings should be evaluated at various points throughout the school year. Efforts should be made to establish mentor teams to provide additional support to new teachers. Where mentor teams are established, guidelines should be developed and implemented for the composition and responsibilities of such teams.
Mentors have to know specifically what their responsibilities are in the program.
Mentors should be provided with the skills of peer coaching and of content mentoring . Both new teachers and mentors should be assisted with the knowledge and skills needed for successful implementation of the Delaware Student Content Standards. The mentoring program needs to exist in a supportive environment. Efforts must be made to keep building administrators aware of and involved in the program. Teachers and support staff members not directly involved in the mentoring effort must be informed about it.