Arkansas Administrative Code
Agency 005 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Division 15 - Division of Learning Services
Rule 005.15.15-003 - Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing Educator Mentoring Programs
Universal Citation: AR Admin Rules 005.15.15-003
Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 2, February 2024
1.00 REGULATORY AUTHORITY AND PURPOSE
1.01 These rules shall be known as the
Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing Educator Mentoring
Programs.
1.02 The State Board of
Education enacted these rules pursuant to its authority as set forth in Ark.
Code Ann. §§
6-11-105,
6-17-2804,
and
25-15-201 et
seq.
2.00 DEFINITIONS
2.01 "Beginning
Administrator" means an individual who:
2.01.1 Has less than one (1) year of public
school administrative experience, not including student internship, and either:
2.01.1.1 Holds an administrator license
issued by the State Board;
2.01.1.2
Is employed as an administrator under an ALCP by a public school district,
open-enrollment public charter school, or other organization that serves public
schools; or
2.01.1.3 Is performing
the role of an administrator in an open-enrollment public charter school, and
is not licensed as an administrator by the State Board.
2.02 "Certified mentor" means a
person who:
2.02.1 Holds a current Arkansas
teaching or administrator's license, unless the person is employed where the
law does not require a license or the legal requirement for a teaching license
is waived in the charter of a public charter school; and
2.02.2 Is certified by the Department's
Office of Educator Effectiveness as trained in the state-adopted mentoring
model.
2.03 "Department"
means the Arkansas Department of Education.
2.04 "Mentoring" means the acts of a
certified mentor providing support and focused feedback to a novice teacher
(according to the state-adopted mentoring model) with the goal of enhancing
instructional skills, classroom management, and professional
behavior.
2.05 "Novice Teacher"
means a teacher who has less than one (1) year of classroom teaching
experience, not including student internship or substitute teaching.
2.05.1 "Novice Teacher" may include an
individual with a provisional or standard license issued by the State Board who
is employed as a teacher of record in a private school, if the private school
participation is approved by the Department under these rules.
3.00 MENTORING REQUIREMENTS FOR NOVICE TEACHERS AND BEGINNING ADMINISTRATORS
3.01 Every novice teacher and beginning
administrator employed in a public school, open-enrollment public charter
school, or other public educational setting shall participate in mentoring for
no less than one (1) year.
3.01.1 A
participant in a nontraditional licensure program shall participate in
mentoring for the period of time specified in the ADE rules governing the
relevant nontraditional licensure program.
3.01.2 Mentoring for a novice teacher shall
consist of a certified mentor providing support and focused feedback with
regard to instructional skills, classroom management, and professional
behaviors.
3.01.3 Mentoring for a
beginning administrator shall consist of a certified mentor providing support
and focused feedback with regard to skills, management, and professional
behaviors.
3.01.3.1 Except as provided under
3.01.3.2, a beginning administrator working under an ALCP shall participate in
mentoring for the duration of the ALCP.
3.01.3.2 If a beginning administrator has
completed mentoring as a building-level administrator or a curriculum/program
administrator and is applying for the other of those two licenses, he or she is
not required to complete a second mentoring program.
3.01.4 The requirement for mentoring of a
novice teacher or beginning administrator under these rules will not
apply to:
3.01.4.1 A public school or
school district that:
3.01.4.1.1 Obtained
permission from the Department to use a nationally recognized system of teacher
evaluation that is substantially similar to the Teacher Excellence and Support
System under the ADE Rules Governing the Teacher Excellence and Support System,
or an administrator evaluation system that is substantially similar to the
Leader Excellence and Development System under the ADE Rules Governing the
Leader Excellence and Development System, as applicable, and
3.01.4.1.2 Provides evidence to the
Department that its mentoring program is aligned to the school's approved
teacher or administrator evaluation system; or
3.01.4.2 An open-enrollment public charter
school that:
3.0.1.4.2.1 Receives a waiver of
the Teacher Excellence and Support System or the Leader Excellence and
Development System, as applicable, through the charter approval or renewal
process; and
3.01.4.2.2 Provides
evidence to the Charter Authorizing Panel that its mentoring program is aligned
to the school's approved teacher or administrator evaluation system, as
applicable.
3.01.5 Mentors, novice teachers, and
beginning administrators shall attend all Department-mandated training,
orientation, or informational meetings.
3.01.6 A novice teacher in a pre-kindergarten
setting licensed by the Arkansas Department of Human Services may in the
alternative participate in mentoring offered pursuant to Arkansas Department of
Human Services rules.
3.01.7 The
Department may approve unfunded participation in a mentoring program by a
novice teacher who is employed at a private school setting.
3.01.7.1 The private school shall be
responsible for providing a certified mentor with at least one (1) year of
teaching experience and a project director as stated in these rules.
3.01.7.2 The private school shall assume all
costs of the mentoring program, including without limitation, costs of training
for mentors, participants, and technology.
3.01.8 A novice teacher who is employed in a
private school that did not participate in a mentoring program under Section
3.01.7 during his or her employment shall participate in the Department's
mentoring program in the first year of employment at a public school,
open-enrollment public charter school, or other public educational
setting.
3.02 Every
Arkansas public school district, open-enrollment public charter school, or
other public educational setting that employs a novice teacher or beginning
administrator shall:
3.02.1 Notify the Office
of Educator Effectiveness (OEE), no later than September 1 of each year, of the
appointment of an induction project director who will act as the liaison for
the program to the Department;
3.02.1.1
Induction project directors are responsible for coordination of mentor
assignments, oversight of mentor funding appropriations, adherence to state
rules and guidelines related to mentoring, and all written and fiscal reporting
and communications to the Department;
3.02.1.2 Induction project directors must
complete the annual Project Director Update sponsored by the OEE, in order to
have access to the Department's online data system and to be qualified to pair
a novice teacher or beginning administrator with a certified mentor;
3.02.1.3 As funds are available, induction
project directors shall be compensated with a stipend via a sliding scale (not
to exceed $1,000) based on the number of novice teachers and beginning
administrators in the school or district;
3.02.2 Submit to the OEE via the OEE's online
data system:
3.02.2.1 No later than September
30 of each year, a register of all novice teacher/mentor pairs and beginning
administrator/ mentor pairs employed by the school or district; and
3.02.2.2 No later than September 30 of each
year, an assurances statement, signed by the induction project director,
district superintendent, or charter-school director, that the school or
district is in compliance with these rules regarding mentoring.
3.02.3 Assign to each novice
teacher, within three (3) weeks of the novice teacher's first contract day of
the school year, a certified mentor teacher who:
3.02.3.1 Has a compatible background in
licensure content area and level of licensure;
3.02.3.2 Is trained and certified in the
state-adopted mentoring model; and
3.02.3.3 Has at least three (3) years of
successful teaching experience.
3.02.3.3.1 A
teacher employed by a public charter school with only one (1) year of teaching
experience may mentor in a public charter school if the public charter school
obtains approval from the Department;
3.02.4 Assign to each beginning
administrator, within three (3) weeks of the beginning administrator's first
contract day of the school year, a certified administrator mentor or an
administrator who meets the requirements of 3.02.4.1 and is in the process of
being certified in the state-adopted mentoring model.
3.02.4.1 The certified mentor for a beginning
administrator shall have a minimum of one (1) year of experience in the area in
the beginning administrator's licensure area.
3.02.4.2 If a certified mentor is not
available in the beginning administrator's school district, a certified mentor
may be obtained from outside the school district.
3.02.5 Release the following persons for
training, orientation, or informational meetings:
3.02.5.1 Mentors to attend the initial mentor
training and any statewide informational meetings held by the
Department;
3.02.5.2 Induction
project directors to attend annual update meetings; and
3.02.5.3 Beginning administrators to attend
induction training and any statewide informational meetings held by the
Department;
3.02.6
Provide released time during the contract day for a novice teacher and mentor
to work together on the mentoring modules;
3.02.7 Support the novice teacher's or
beginning administrator's and mentor's full participation in the mentoring
program developed by the Department, including without limitation focused
observations and professional development activities, and online and
face-to-face activities for mentors, novice teachers, and beginning
administrators that engage them in collaborative dialogue, problem solving, and
professional development;
3.02.8
Notify OEE, via the OEE's online data system, within fifteen (15) days of any
personnel changes that might affect annual mentoring budget allocations (such
as hiring of a novice teacher or beginning administrator midyear, or a novice
teacher or beginning administrator resigning midyear and being replaced by an
experienced teacher or administrator for whom mentoring is not appropriate);
and
3.02.9 Submit, via the OEE's
online data system, the end-of-year budget report reflecting mentor stipend
expenditures, no later than July 15 of each year.
3.02.9.1 Mentor stipends shall be distributed
and disbursed within the parameters established by the Department.
3.03 Only one (1)
novice teacher or beginning administrator may be assigned to each mentor.
3.03.1 A public school or school district may
submit a request to the OEE Program Advisor for approval for assigning more
than one (1) novice teacher or beginning administrator to a mentor.
3.04 A novice teacher or beginning
administrator shall complete all modules, observations, and professional growth
targets required by the Department in the state-adopted mentoring
system.
3.05 The OEE will monitor
the quality of each public school or school district's mentoring program.
3.05.1 All required mentoring and observation
documentation shall be uploaded to the OEE's online data system and verified by
the induction project director.
3.05.2 Mentoring and observational
information shall not be utilized in any way for employment or evaluation
decisions unless students are at risk, either physically or
emotionally.
3.06 School
districts or open-enrollment public charter schools that do not comply with
these rules shall be placed in accredited-cited status. Noncompliance includes
without limitation:
3.06.1 Failure to register
all mentors, novice teachers, and beginning administrators with the
OEE;
3.06.2 Failure to comply with
established guidelines for assignment, support, and monitoring of mentors and
novice teachers or beginning administrators; and
3.06.3 Failure to submit all appropriate
documentation.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Arkansas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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