Help Me before I Quit! Reimagining New Teacher Mentoring Programs

Transitioning from teacher candidate to beginning teacher remains a difficult one despite school districts’ efforts to provide mentoring and induction programs. This commentary examines teacher attrition and current practices used to support new teachers entering the profession. We draw on the tenets of characteristics of effective mentorships and holistic mentoring to propose a new framework for supporting new teachers where university faculty serve as mentors for former teacher education program graduates. An overview of our program, New Teachers Anonymous, is provided for readers to implement at their own universities, and the commentary concludes with implications for future practice and research.