IMPROVING MENTORING OF ALTERNATIVELY CERTIFIED SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS IN KENTUCKY

To help combat shortages of school administrators, Kentucky has established an alternative certification program that provides participants immediate certification to begin working as a school administrator. During the program, participants complete coursework and receive support from district and university mentors. Most other states have similar programs. The improvement of support from district and university mentors was the focus of this study. A literature review supported the importance of mentoring and suggested qualities of effective mentors and effective mentoring activities. This study used mixed methods in a convergent parallel design. Participants completed surveys consisting of short answer questions, rating scales, ranking questions, and checkbox questions at three points (early, middle, and late) during a yearlong mentoring cycle. The results of this study suggest that mentors should take careful inventory of the characteristics of their mentees. Likely results of those inventories are detailed by the study and include suggestions such as mentees need immediate training in school law and finance. The results also indicate numerous services that mentors should likely provide to mentees such as simply checking in on them periodically, providing professional development ideas, assisting with licensure exam preparation, ensuring that mentees do not neglect tasks proven effective by research, and encouraging mentees to engage in regular leisure activities. Unique to the role of university mentors, mentees sometimes want advice in dealing with disagreements with district leaders.