A Mentoring Program for Beginning and Veteran Teachers of Students with Severe Disabilities

Abstract
There is much information available showing that special educators may be leaving the profession because of the absence of strong support systems designed to nurture their beginning years and value their expertise in the later years of their careers. Special educators working with students who have severe disabilities are one of the high risk attrition groups. Mentoring is one method of coaching new teachers and recognizing the mastery of veteran ones; it can lead to long term support for all participants. This article describes the mentorship component of a graduate program for preservice teachers of students with severe disabilities. A review of information available from successful mentoring programs provided the conceptual structure.

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