Training Mentors Is Not Enough

"Portner′s work provides all educators with a look at both the philosophical side of mentoring new teachers and the very practical side of operating an effective mentoring program. As the teacher shortage grows more pronounced, this book can be a basic blueprint for success in addressing recruitment, induction, and retention of the best possible teachers in any district, large or small, urban or suburban or rural."
Carl E. O′Connell, Mentor Program Coordinator
Rochester City School District and Rochester Teachers Association, NY

"This book is packed with practical suggestions and detailed hints on how a program can be set up and woven into the fabric of a school in a systemic way. Portner captures the ups and downs of mentoring relationships and proposes effective ways to keep mentoring programs energized."
Charles E. Gobron, Teacher Chair
Professional Development Council
Massachusetts Teachers Association

A roadmap for highly effective mentoring programs! Educator, program consultant, and author Hal Portner is an authority on how to craft a mentoring program that validates, supports, and celebrates every aspect of the mentor-mentee relationship. In Training Mentors Is Not Enough, Portner offers a how-to guide and workbook for planners and participants who want to develop an exemplary mentoring program or upgrade an existing one. This comprehensive, but accessible, resource also serves as a practical management tool for mentor program coordinators and committees.

Practical strategies and how-to points cover subjects like:

• Obtaining broad-based commitment and participation from key individuals and groups
• Understanding and working within the larger environment
• Forming and developing effective mentoring committees
• Roles and responsibilities of participants
• Pragmatic and effective policies, procedures, and resources
• Evaluating fledgling mentoring programs
• Analysis of recently developed models

Training Mentors Is Not Enough offers educators an expanded view of the mentoring process and serves as an essential resource for planning, managing, and evaluating mentoring programs. This book can also serve as a valuable supplemental text in educational leadership or program development courses and seminars.

Hal Portner is a former K-12 teacher and administrator. He was assistant director of the Summer Math Program for High School Women and Their Teachers at Mount Holyoke College, and for 24 years he was a teacher and then administrator in two Connecticut public school districts. From 1985 to 1995, he was a member of the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Bureau of Certification and Professional Development, where, among other responsibilities, he served as coordinator of the Connecticut Institute for Teaching and Learning and worked closely with school districts to develop and carry out professional development and teacher evaluation plans and programs. Hal developed and teaches for Western New England University a 3 credit MEd in Curriculum and Instruction online core course in Mentoring, Coaching, and professional development. Portner writes, develops materials, trains mentors, facilitates the development of new teacher and peer-mentoring programs, and consults for school districts and other educational organizations and institutions. In addition to Mentoring New Teachers, he is the author of Training Mentors Is Not Enough: Everything Else Schools and Districts Need to Do (2001), Being Mentored: A Guide for Protégés (2002), Workshops that Really Work: The ABCs of Designing and Delivering Sensational Presentations (2005), and editor of Teacher Mentoring and Induction: The State of the Art and Beyond (2005) – all published by Corwin Press. He holds an MEd from the University of Michigan and a 6th-year Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) in education admin­istration from the University of Connecticut. For three years, he was with the University of Massachusetts EdD Educational Leadership Program.