Mentors

Experienced Illinois principals who have demonstrated success as instructional leaders will be selected to serve as mentors for Illinois public school administrators who are in their first year of service as building level principals.  Mentors will be selected by mentoring entities through a fair and open process.

New Principal Mentor Qualifications

• A minimum of three years of  experience as a building principal in Illinois
• Support of three professional educator references which includes:
1. One letter from a certified staff member who is not an administrator and has served for at least one full school year under the principal’s supervision
2. Each principal shall submit one letter from another principal who has knowledge of the individual’s work
3. One letter from a district superintendent or assistant superintendent under whose supervision the principal has served for at least one full school year, or from a regional superintendent who has knowledge of the principal’s work
4. Each required letter of reference shall include:
• The nature of the working relationship between the letter-writer and the principal in question
• The letter-writer’s reasons for believing that the principal in question is of ethical character and possesses strong interpersonal skills
• One or more specific examples of the principal’s accomplishments related to particular aspects of the Illinois Professional School Leader Standards
• No individual shall serve as a mentor if more than five years have elapsed since his or her last date of service as a principal in an Illinois school or service in some other educational capacity that routinely requires interaction with principals and familiarity with the issues and challenges they face.  Evidence of the latter type of service shall be a contract, job description, or other document generated by the employing entity.
• Click here for the INPM Frequently Asked Questions

Instructions for Completing INPM End-of-Year Survey

End-of-year surveys for new principals, mentors, mentoring entities and superintendents are now available on the INPM website.  All of the surveys can be found on the Program Evaluation page.  Each survey is also available on the appropriate page, i.e., New Principal, Mentor and Mentoring Entities.

All new principals, mentors, mentoring entities and superintendents are asked to complete and return the required survey as directed by June 30, 2008.  It is anticipated that it will take less than 15 minutes to complete the survey. Mentors who serve more than one new principal are asked to complete a survey for EACH new principal mentored.

No new principal or mentor will be identified in any way in the tabulation of results.  Identification information required on the survey is for verification of completion purposes, only.  All results will be shared with mentoring entities, mentors and new principals who currently participate in the INPM Program.

New Principals will need to use their IEIN as their identification number.  This number can be accessed on-line as follows:
Go to INPM Website: www.ilprincipalmentoring.org
Click ‘Resources’
Click ‘Certification and Recertification’
Click ‘Recording Professional Development Activities’

Mentor End-of-Year Survey

Mentor Survey

Mentor Expectations

• Successfully complete the initial mentor training and all ongoing professional development activities
• Dedicate sufficient time to mentoring to meet program requirements and serve the needs of the new principal (50 hours minimum)
• Be available to the new principal as specified by mentoring entity expectations and the needs of the new principal (minimum of three face-to-face meetings at the beginning, middle, and end)
• Create, develop and maintain an effective, professional mentoring relationship with the new principal
• Assist the new principal in adjusting to his or her new role and in developing skill as an instructional leader
• Coach, observe, and provide feedback to the new principal on aspects of organizational management
• Help the new principal identify significant problems and issues that act as barriers to school improvement, as well as meaningful solutions to these
• Provide structured opportunities for the new principal’s reflection on his or her educational practice
• Document the types and duration of mentoring activities and any outcomes (click here to download the mentoring log)
• Make regular reports of status and progress in the mentoring process to the appropriate mentoring entity
• Complete final evaluation and verification reports as required by the mentoring entity. Click here for Verification Form due to Mentoring Entities by June 30, 2008.
• Click here for the INPM Rules and Regulations

Would You Like To Mentor?

If you would like to mentor a new principal, please contact a Mentoring Entity in your region to learn more about the application process and mentoring requirements.  Mentoring Entity contact information can be downloaded by clicking here.  Or, contact the INPM Program Manager with additional questions.

Important Dates

• INPM Post-Survey – Due June 30, 2008 (Available online)
• Turn all logs and required verification information into mentoring entity (Due June 30, 2008)

INPM Resources

INPM Podcasts - Drag the XML icon into your favorite podcasting program or click PODCAST to subscribe using iTunes.