Perceptions of Beginning Teachers and Mentor Teachers: Case Study of a Campus Mentor Program

The purpose of this study was to examine beginning and mentor teachers' perceptions of a campus mentor program and the match of the mentor teacher to a beginning teacher. The focus was to identify specific factors that would contribute to supporting a campus mentor program. The researcher selected one public school district in Southeast Texas for this case study. Beginning teachers and mentor teachers who were licensed teachers in the state of Texas, employed by the same school district, and were teachers in one of the seven intermediate schools within the school district were invited to participate in the study. The six teachers invited to participate included: three mentor teachers and three beginning teachers. Semi-structured, open-ended questions were used to gain insight into the experiences of the beginning and mentor teachers. The findings of this study indicate that it is imperative that beginning teachers be assigned a mentor in their first year of teaching and receive support from the mentor for at least the first two years.