To increase the number of certified teachers in areas of shortage, in support of Goal 7 of Michigan’s Top 10 Strategic Education Plan, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE)has focused not only on recruiting new teachers to the profession but also on strengthening retention strategies. Mentoring and induction programs help to improve both instructional efficacy and satisfaction with working conditions, which leads to an improvement in student performance and increases teacher retention (Ingersoll et al., 2012).
For decades, MCL 380.1526 has required Michigan teachers in their first three years of employment in classroom teaching to be assigned a mentor and to receive an additional 15 days of professional learning for induction to the profession. To improve the quality of mentoring and induction programming required under law, MDE adopted Mentoring and Induction Standards in 2004. These six standards focused solely on new teachers and remained unchanged over the last 20 years.
