The Texas Beginning Educator Support System

New teachers meet monthly as a group with the TxBESS coordinator to discuss areas of concern. Mentors also meet monthly with the TxBESS coordinator to get general feedback and provide the same. Mentors meet at least weekly with their protégés to enact aspects of the program and give the new teachers a touchstone as they transition into campus and/or professional life. The mentor teacher also serves as an informal liaison with administration as well as other teachers in their respective departments and with the support staff.

Each new teacher is teamed with an experienced teacher to provide ongoing professional support. Focused support for experienced teachers principally addresses school culture and professional issues related to the student population, staff acclimatization, procedural details, and general team building.   

Teachers new to the profession receive encouragement in classroom management techniques, lesson preparation and assessment, identification of student needs, and establishment of an attitude of professional growth. Mentors assist through direct observation of new teacher classroom preparation and instruction, provide observation opportunities for the new teachers in their own and other teachers’ classrooms and regularly debrief with the new teachers providing moral support throughout their transition into the education profession.  

The most important tool that mentors utilize with new teachers is the TxBESS Activity Profile (TAP). This document is designed to help teachers self-appraise their instructional preparation and delivery. The TAP provides evidence for the new teacher in how effective their instruction is for students in a non-threatening, yet comprehensive fashion.   

The principal role of the mentor is to help the new teachers determine at which levels of proficiency they are accomplishing performance standards within the framework of Instructional Planning, Classroom Environment, Instructional Experience, and Educational Professionalism. This personal appraisal process lays the groundwork for the new teacher to gauge future improvements in teaching behaviors by establishing a baseline of teacher competencies. The mentor helps the teacher develop strategies to improve in each of these critical areas of the teaching profession. 

Texas Beginning Educator Support System -