Opinion: Quality mentorship: the secret to PA teacher success and retention

On my first day as a teacher in a Philadelphia public school, I stood helpless in front of a class of 33 students, nearly all of whom were off task. It was my first time teaching a lesson as the lead instructor, and I didn’t know what to do.

I desperately tried to lock eyes with my mentor, a teacher with over 10 years of experience teaching in West Philadelphia, hoping that he would pick up on my desperation and intervene with a suggestion. Instead, he sat at his desk watching videos on his phone.

At the end of class, I asked a student what she was interested in doing when she graduated. She told me she wanted to be a veterinarian because she loves animals. She also shared that she will need to transfer to a different high school to pursue that dream because “the teachers here don’t really do any teaching.” Her comment devastated me. Here was a student who grew up less than a mile from one of the top five veterinary schools in the country at the University of Pennsylvania and was still made to feel like her zip code would determine her destiny. I became a teacher to help young people achieve their dreams and improve their lives. At that moment, I felt I was doing the opposite. 

A good mentor would have found a way to discreetly provide real-time coaching to help me recenter and find my way back to the objectives of the lesson. To ensure that new teachers don’t face the same challenges I did, the Pennsylvania Department of Education should consider establishing “mentor teacher” as an official position band for teachers. Recent research shows that high-quality mentorship programs dramatically boost teacher retention, effectiveness, job satisfaction, classroom management, and instructional skills.

From classroom management and lesson planning to keeping on top of the seemingly endless amount of paperwork that comes with the job, guidance and advice from a seasoned educator is invaluable to new teachers at the start of their careers. Sufficient funding must be provided so that teachers who qualify for such a mentor position receive additional compensation and designated meeting time within the school day to share their expertise with new teachers.  

Establishing an official mentor teacher pay band for Pennsylvania teachers would not only strengthen support for early-career teachers but also address one of the greatest deterrents to remaining in the teaching profession: the lack of a clear career progression, making it transparent to teachers that their experience is recognized in both title and salary. 

While dealing with my own feelings of doubt and frustration as a new teacher, I would have appreciated it if my mentor championed hopefulness and excitement about the work. Without the support of a mentor and explicit career progression, too many educators leave the profession. In 2024, more than 8,000 Pennsylvania teachers left the classroom; investing in mentor programs could help prevent this from happening.

Salary is another issue cited as an obstacle to recruiting talent into the teaching profession and retaining educators. Pennsylvania teachers’ weekly pay is 18% lower than the pay of other college-educated professionals with similar experience. Giving mentor teachers a significant increase in annual pay or a substantial stipend when they mentor an early-career teacher would widen the pool of qualified and motivated mentor teachers. Last year, Pennsylvania’s legislature doubled funding for the Student Teacher Support Program, which includes $2,500 stipends for teachers mentoring student teachers. This proves that policymakers understand the value of strong mentorship. While this is a good start, it’s not enough. Limiting this investment to just one group of mentors misses an opportunity to strengthen the entire teacher pipeline. 

Later in the school year, in my initial mentor’s classroom, the student who aspired to be a veterinarian let me know math was her favorite subject and asked if I could write her a recommendation for a pre-college summer program at the University of Pennsylvania. When I looked into her eyes, I saw the belief and optimism of a young person looking forward to her future with teachers guiding her toward it. It’s time to honor the role of mentors because every early-career teacher deserves robust mentorship, because when teachers are supported, they are better equipped to help students reach their aspirations.