COUNTYWIDE : State Gives $398,000 for Mentor Program

The state Department of Education has given $398,000 in grants to several Orange County school districts for a mentor program aimed at new teachers overwhelmed by an increasingly demanding job.

Educators say that first- and second-year teachers often have trouble dealing with 150 students a day, especially in schools with large numbers of lower-income and culturally diverse students. A simple thing such as sending third-graders out for recess becomes a major chore for some teachers fresh out of college.

“I cried my whole first year of teaching,” said Kim Ambrose, vice principal of Las Palmas Elementary School in San Clemente. “I just put my head on the desk and cried every day. It took me several years to feel like I could handle it.”

The people behind Orange County’s Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program hope to ease that frustration. The group, which includes six school districts and UC Irvine, was one of 15 programs statewide to receive grant money.

Locally, 120 new teachers will take part. Each will be assigned a fellow teacher for moral support. Education consultants from UC Irvine will observe each teacher’s work and offer suggestions on teaching techniques, including subjects such as lesson plans and how to hand back papers more efficiently.

The six school districts participating are Santa Ana, Capistrano, Saddleback Valley, Tustin, Irvine and Newport-Mesa unified districts.

The individual districts choose from which schools new teachers can apply for the program. Districts officials are focusing on schools where several languages are spoken and have large numbers of students from low-income families, because those are the most challenging situations for young teachers.

“If they get left on their own, they get disillusioned, overwhelmed, disheartened,” said Carol Booth Olson, a coordinator of the beginning teacher program at UC Irvine. “They need someone to say, ‘I’ve been there too. I know what it’s like. You can handle it.’ ”

This is the second year the state has given school districts money for the mentor programs. The Fullerton and La Habra school districts combined to receive one of the 15 beginning teacher grants awarded in the 1993-94 school year.

The money comes from a bill that state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R--Newport Beach) introduced and Governor Pete Wilson signed into law in September, 1992.

By law, schools cannot use the university consultants’ criticisms of a teacher’s style in hiring or firing. The program is solely designed for support, not job evaluation.

Educators said new teachers burn out easily these days because they do more than teach. Now, they are expected to be emotional counselors and advisers, for both children and parents.

“We can do a great deal in terms of training and attracting people to the profession,” said Dennis Evans, the Orange County director of the beginning teacher program and the associate director of the UCI education department.

“But I think there’s a real gap in what happens to those well-trained people when they actually get jobs. The induction years are a crucial time for the professional teacher.”