The continuation of a mentoring network for pre-service teachers into early in-service years

Chrissy Cross, Keith Hubbard, Lesa Beverly, Dennis Gravatt and Adrienne Aul
Stephen F. Austin State University, USA

Many educator preparation programs have formal and informal mentoring for pre-service teachers. However, few educator preparation programs continue the mentoring of mathematics teachers after graduation. This qualitative research examines the impact of a mentoring network for pre-service mathematics teachers embedded in the educator preparation program and continuing after they graduated from a rural university in Texas. The focus of the research is to evaluate the impact of the mentoring network on the choice of instructional methods used in classrooms by novice mathematics teachers.
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Authors: Dr Chrissy J. Cross is an Associate Professor of Secondary Education at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. She obtained her PhD in curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in science and mathematics from Texas Tech University in 2014. Her research interests include qualitative research methods and STEM education. Email: crossc1@sfasu.edu Dr Keith Hubbard is a Professor of Mathematics at Stephen F. Austin State University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Notre Dame in 2005, and currently serves as principal investigator or project director on three STEM-student-serving NSF projects. His research interests include STEM student success and STEM teacher education. Email: hubbardke@sfasu.edu Dr Lesa Beverly is the Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Stephen F. Austin State University. She earned a PhD in mathematics from Virginia Tech in 2000. She has served as a principal investigator on two Noyce Scholarship grants and her research interests include mathematical crystallography and mathematics education. Email: beverlyll@sfasu.edu Dr Dennis Gravatt is an Associate Professor at Stephen F. Austin State University. He earned a PhD in forest biology from Louisiana State University in 1994. He is a co-principal investigator on the Noyce Scholarship program, and his research expertise is in plant physiology, plant ecophysiology, wetland ecology and medical botany. Email: dgravatt@sfasu.edu Adrienne Aul is an EdD candidate at the University of Houston studying mathematics education. As the STEM Programs Coordinator at Stephen F. Austin State University, her research focuses on STEM teacher preparation programs and students' interest in STEM and STEM careers. Email: aaul@sfasu.edu Please cite as: Cross, C. J., Hubbard, K., Beverly, L., Gravatt, D. & Aul, A. (2020). The continuation of a mentoring network for pre-service teachers into early in-service years. Issues in Educational Research, 30(4), 1286-1309. http://www.iier.org.au/iier30/cross.pdf