Music Mentors of Iowa (MMI) is dedicated to providing trained mentors in all areas of music education. We work to develop positive professional relationships among new teachers, experienced teachers, administrators and teacher education programs.
The Goals:
Iowa Alliance for Arts Education/Music Mentors of Iowa
Music Mentors is currently involved in a 3 year grant with IAAE and the Iowa Department of Education. Leon Kuehner and Elizabeth Fritz will be presenting two sessions at the Midwest Clinic in Chicago, December of 2007 describing and outlining the project and its implementation.
The purpose of this grant is to improve the quality of arts education in Iowa through mentoring assistance of first-year arts teachers. Increased opportunities for success will benefit these teachers, the students in their classrooms, the local school district, and the state. One of the most important traits of leadership is to create an environment in which quality can flourish, and this grant program will foster this environment for our beginning teachers.
The Iowa Bandmasters Association and Music Mentors of Iowa successfully piloted this same mentor project during the 2005-06 school year. The feedback from the first-year teachers enthusiastically confirmed the importance of need for an "active mentor", an "observation mentor", and the need to attend conferences specifically designed for the first-year teacher as well as for their professional development in general. The establishment of an active communication network of professionals is the key element in the success of this mentoring program.
The Iowa Arts Educators Mentor Program is designed to enhance, not supplant the established local/district/AEA/State mentoring programs. The mentoring program is discipline-specific. The information that is made available to the first-year teacher through this program ranges from "survival" to "mastery" skills needed to be successful in the arts classroom. The information is tailored specifically to the individual teacher and teaching situation. This information can also be accessed immediately (through emails/phone calls) or after observation and reflection (mentor visits). It also provides for networking with other first-year and veteran teachers throughout the state.
Due to the statewide scope of this project, the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education is uniquely positioned to propose and manage this project. All the participating arts organizations are members of the IAAE "umbrella." The leadership of the six arts organizations (Arts Educators of Iowa, Iowa Bandmasters Association, Iowa Communications Association, Iowa Choral Directors Association, Iowa Music Educators Association, and Iowa String Teachers Association), as well as Music Mentors of Iowa have all participated in IAAE programs and have representatives on the IAAE Advisory Board. IAAE, collaborating with the Iowa Department of Education, has been a leader in the state in the development of statewide arts programs in the areas of assessment, standards and benchmarks, integration, advocacy, and leadership development.
The mentoring project is a natural outgrowth of the IAAE mission statement which is to increase ".... the support of policies, practices, and partnerships that ensure quality arts education for all Iowans."
Development of Mentorship Program
Phase I - Mentorship Structure Development
Phase 2 - Scholarships to attend professional organization conferences
Phase 3 - Participation in statewide symposium
Phase 4 - Development and participation in observation mentor program using active/retired members
