Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Lessons from the Experience in Texas. Policy Research Report.

This report, in six chapters, discusses various aspects of mentoring teachers. The first chapter, an introduction by Diane T. Pan and Sue E. Mutchler, reviews the history of teacher mentoring in Texas since 1988 and describes the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's (SEDL) Teacher Mentoring Research Project. Chapter 2, "Lessons from Research on Teacher Mentoring: Review of the Literature," by Sue E. Mutchler, grounds SEDL's research in current understandings of teacher mentoring. Chapter 3, "Teacher Mentoring Survey of Texas School Districts: Summary of Results," by Diane T. Pan, presents findings and analysis of the statewide survey. Quantitative analysis of administrative data from three case sites are given in chapter 4, "Mentoring Beginning Teachers: The Implications of Contextual Conditions," by Kelly S. Shapley and Joan Bush. Chapter 5, "Lessons from the Field: Case Studies of Three Districts," by Robert W. Glover and Sue E. Mutchler, gives a report and analysis of findings from qualitative research done at three case sites. Conclusions, implications, and recommendations that draw from findings of all study data sources are presented in the final chapter of this report. Appendices consist of the statewide survey instrument and an annotated bibliography of additional resources on mentoring. (Contains 44 references.) (RT)