Reflection on Education Week Article

Reflection to the Education Week article entitled “Top-Notch Teachers Found to Affect Peers”. I was not surprised that staff makes an important factor on student achievement. I believe that high-quality teachers will make their colleagues work harder. If you are surrounded by colleagues who are working very hard, most people in society would not want to be considered the “slacker” of the group. I believe surrounding beginning teachers with high-quality teachers early in the career will help in the overall development of the new teacher.

I was shocked that the formal mentor model seems to only affect student achievement in the area of math and reading, but had no real affect on teacher absences and/or teacher retention. I wasn’t surprised about informal mentor models not really working. I was subjected to an informal mentor model during my first and second year of teacher. I thought it was the biggest wasted of time. The mentor teacher wanted to chit-chat about school gossip and not help me develop as a teacher. Did anyone else have a mentor experience that was worthwhile? If so, what did they do?