Newly appointed principals often feel overwhelmed and stressed, lacking the expertise and skills to deal with the multiple demands placed on them (Daresh & Male, 2000; Spillane & Lee, 2014). Research highlights that mentors can play an important part in helping beginning principals lift their confidence, improve their management skills, and establish themselves as instructional leaders (Darling-Hammond, LaPointe, Meyerson, & Orr, 2007). However, the importance of this support has in many jurisdictions only been recognized in the last decade and a report on established programs showed major short-comings in their mentor training, curriculum focus and evaluation procedures (Spiro, Mattis, & Mitgang, 2007). In Spiro et al’s view some common symptoms leading to the shortcomings in mentoring programs are their insufficient focus on instructional leadership, weak or non-existing training for mentors, and insufficient mentoring time of less than a year. The authors further point to the lack of evaluation data to substantiate the value of mentoring programs for novice principals’ development.

The current study reports on the evaluation of the mentoring strand of the New Zealand national principal induction program and in doing so aims to shed some light on the value that mentoring programs, which address the above mentioned critiques, can add to novice principals’ development. The program, which was funded by the national ministry of education, enrolled the vast majority of beginning principals (97%) in the country each year. Yearly cohorts consisted of up to 150 novice principals from all types of schools. It provided professional development and ongoing support through individual and group mentoring by experienced principals in the first 18 months of the role. Mentors were selected on the basis of their own school performance and peer reputation and received ongoing training in interpersonal and leadership skills. The program’s curriculum was based around research on leadership best practice and a model of student-centred leadership. The program focused on leadership knowledge and skills, and excluded specific guidance on management and administrative issues. Mentoring activities included a minimum of two school-based visits and a number of group mentoring meetings with other novice principals. The mentoring process was guided by a co-constructed professional learning plan that included the setting of school improvement and personal learning goals.

The evaluation of the mentoring strand drew on quantitative and qualitative data collected through evaluation surveys sent to principals on program completion. The evaluation and analysis was guided by the following research questions: (1) What mentor qualities, program activities, principal and school characteristics predict principals’ satisfaction with the program and their mentor? (2) What do principals perceive as weaknesses and strengths of the program and their mentor?

Daresh, J., & Male, T. (2000). Crossing the border into leadership: Experiences of newly appointed British headteachers and American principals. Educational Management & Administration, 28(1), 89-101. doi: 10.1177/0263211x000281013 Darling-Hammond, L., LaPointe, M., Meyerson, D., & Orr, M. T. (2007). Preparing school leaders for a changing world: Lessons from exemplary leadership development programs. school leadership study. Stanford: Stanford Educational Leadership Institute. Spillane, J. P., & Lee, L. C. (2014). Novice school principals’ sense of ultimate responsibility: Problems of practice in transitioning to the principal’s office. Educational Administration Quarterly, 50(3), 431-465. doi: 10.1177/0013161x13505290 Spiro, J., Mattis, M. C., & Mitgang, L. D. (2007). Getting principal mentoring right: Lessons from the field. New York: Wallace Foundation.