SOUTH CENTRAL

Mentoring Department at South Central Service Cooperative

South Central Service Cooperative provides mentoring support for all novices in our region based off of individual teacher/school need. The Recruitment and Retention Facilitator works collaboratively with building principals to provide a three-year comprehensive team support system to guide novices to be effective educators. SCSC provides personalized support to meet the needs of each novice teacher through face-to-face meetings, on-site support, and virtual collaboration.  We survey building principals and novice teachers for feedback to improve and personalize our support.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which educators receive support through the SCSC Mentoring Program?

Teachers in their formative years (1-3), beginning administrators, and beginning counselors receive support.

Who supports novices?

The R&R coordinates team support for each novice, connects novices with other educators, guides learning on TESS and EdReflect, delivers state mandated PD, and works in classrooms to strengthen classroom and time management. The novice support team includes:

• • SCSC Content Specialists - SCSC specialists work mainly with Year 2 teachers on instruction, assessments, and collecting data. (See areas of concentration page.) Because we support based on individual needs, they may also work with Year 1 or Year 3 novices.

  • Building Principals - Principals check in with novices regularly to support and ensure novices know the appropriate people to talk to about specific topics and procedures in the building. 

  • Instructional Facilitators - District/Building IFs work beside novices to make sure they understand standards, assessments, and delivery of lessons. 

  • Buddy Teachers - Buddies encourage novices and answer questions the NT may have.

  • Other Novices - NTs are grouped by like content/grade with novices across districts for collaboration.

  • Any other educators the novice may benefit from knowing.

Why do novices get a team?

The most successful novices have a strong support team. We have instructional facilitators and building principals planning, co-teaching, and debriefing with NTs. We have NTs observing and collaborating with teachers in their building and across districts. This type of support encourages the novices to try new things and makes them more comfortable to ask questions. We’re also finding that NTs are less anxious about classroom walkthroughs when they have co-taught with IFs and/or principals. One of the main indicators for NTs leaving the profession is lack of support.

Do all novices receive the same level of support?

No. Support is planned based on each teacher’s need. Teachers going through alternative certification tend to require more support than teachers who’ve finished a traditional educator prep program.

What’s the difference between mentoring from a college/university and from SCSC?

Teachers in an alternative certification program are assigned a college/program mentor in order to receive certification to teach specific content. All novices go through a mentoring program with the local education cooperative in order to receive their Career Educator license in the state of Arkansas.

Who works with beginning administrators?

The R&R Facilitator tracks and supports BAs. Our Teacher Center Coordinator, Anna Warriner, works directly with BAs and delivers their professional development. 

How many novice educators do we have in the SCSC area?

We currently have 136 novice teachers, counselors, and administrators.

Who do I contact for information on the SCSC mentoring program?

Angie Gilbert, Recruitment and Retention Facilitator, angie.gilbert@scscoop.org

Links related to novice teacher support:

Commissioner's Memo LIC-17-030

DESE Mentoring Program FAQ

DESE Induction-Mentoring

South Arkansas Teachers

Making Connections & Building Relationships