Teaching Mentors: Is It Worth the Effort?

Two groups of undergraduate students participating in a field experience as part of the undergraduate teacher preparation program were compared on the basis of the supervisory practice of the cooperating/mentor teacher. Both groups received a traditional orientation to student teaching and supervision. In addition, the experimental group had teachers that received an in-depth training in supervision using a specific framework, Praxis III/Pathwise (Educational Testing Service, 1995). Results demonstrated statistically significant differences in favor of the experimental group on 11 of the 19 variables investigated.