Winthrop University Teacher Education Program

Birth to Five Mentoring Model

The process of preservice teacher development is evolving to better support teacher candidate opportunity to become effective educators in P-12 settings. With this evolution, the role of the mentor teacher will become more than just hosting teacher candidates as they complete university requirements.  Mentor teachers will be involved in earlier field experiences and will be trained in mentoring and coaching strategies to support preservice and beginning teachers following a "birth to five" model of preparation and induction. This model was developed initially by CERRA in collaboration with the New Teacher Center and adopted by the South Carolina Department of Education in 2006.  Birth to Five provides a bridge between preparation and beginning teacher development in a way that will hopefully result in increased effectiveness and retention of the teachers we graduate.

Considering the crucial impact of the mentor teacher, new procedures for selection and training are being implemented beginning with schools in the Partnership Network.  Of course, there are students that are placed in settings that are not yet part of the Network; however, this model will be used regardless of where students are doing field work.  Hopefully more schools will join the Network in upcoming years, but we will continue to provide opportunities for and encourage all host teachers to have the Foundations in Mentoring (FIM) Training.

Part of the Birth to Five model and the FIM Training highlights the need for those in new roles to have access to a knowledgeable coach who can guide professional development through the use of formative assessment tools.  This person in both preservice and induction is the mentor teacher.  Although this requires a shift in the traditional role the mentor teacher, it is a research-based and necessary evolution to support teacher effectiveness and retention.

The links below provide resources for mentor teacher, university supervisors, and teacher candidates as they work through the internship experiences. If questions arise about the materials, please contact Ms. Carolyn Grant (grantcg@winthrop.edu) in the Office of Field and Clinical Experiences.

Year-long Internship

Field Experience

Traditional Internship (one semester)

 

Winthrop University Mentor Teacher Observation Record