STEP Early Career Program

    The Early Career Support component of the STEP Project wants to give the strongest support to Montana teachers in their first five years of teaching, especially in rural areas where teacher turnover is high.  The turnover rate can exceed one third of the teaching staff in some of the remote areas.  The program offers support in the areas of mathematics and science content, teaching resource kits, telecommunications resources, yearly workshops, mentoring, and distance education.

    During the past four years, 1997-2000, 180 first, second or third year teachers have been accepted into the Early Career program.   Ninety mentors and mentor-trainers have graduated from the STEP Mentor courses.  Forty-two teachers currently (2000) serve as STEP mentors, a few have retired, and many others now serve as mentors for their home districts. This year we have 60 first, second and third year teachers. Nine of these teachers are in their third year of the Early Career Program and are peer mentoring the new cadre of first year teachers.

Early Career Support Program
                  offers the following opportunities for
                  Montana Early Career Teachers with less
                  than four years of experience in the classroom:

• Pairing of an Early Career Teacher with a trained Mentor Teacher for mutual collegiality, professional growth, and academic and personal support.

• Professional advice and support from educators at universities, community colleges, and model K-12 sites.

• The gift of a Early Career "Survival Kit" that is constructed to be subject and grade specific.  The kits contains science or mathematics teaching resources such as journals, books, worksheets, hands-on manipulatives, and a computer modem.

• Telecommunications support and in-service training for Early Career and Mentor Teachers on METNET.

• Support for participation in regional and state educational workshops and conferences.

• Initial membership in Montana Council of Teachers of Mathematics, or Montana Science Teachers' Association.

STEP TrainedMentor Teachers' Program 
                                                                         provides voluntary mentor training for
                                                                         elementary teachers and secondary
                                                                         teachers specializing in mathematics or
                                                                         science who have at least five years of
                                                                         classroom experience with:

• Initial cohort of 20 exemplary math and/or science teachers participated in a one week workshop on becoming mentors and mentor trainers.

• 24 new mentors were trained by the initial cadre of 20 during a follow up three day  workshop. Many more have been trained since then.

• Mentors received training in the art of mentoring, problem solving, making connections with Early Career Teachers via letter, phone, e-mail, and personal visits, and on using the METNET bulletin board service.

• Support to attend semi-annual Mentor and Early Career workshops and conferences.

• Telecommunications training and support including a computer modem and METNET account.

• Material support for training new mentors, and for working with Early Career Teachers.

• Assigned to one or two Early Career Teachers for up to two years.

Early Career support model translates well across grade levels.
At MSU-Bozeman, the STEP Early Career model has been adapted into amentoring program for beginning faculty.  Like the STEP Early Career K-12 teachers, the new faculty
members are assigned mentors, communicate regularly with other new faculty and mentors on alist serve, participate in workshops and receive a Survival Kit of resources on teaching and learning.This program is successfully supporting new faculty in the seven fields originally targeted by STEP,as well as faculty in engineering, agriculture, nursing, and business.