In the 2009-10 school year DASL coordinated the statewide Coaching and Mentoring program, required by state code for all new principals and assistant principals. New administrators receive a coach or mentor to assist them through the first year on the job. The Coaching and Mentoring Program has many benefits for new administrators:

• Mentors and coaches are retired administrators who provide a safe and trusting forum for new administrators to share ideas or discuss questions or concerns they may have about their role.
   
• Coaches have been trained by the New York Leadership Academy to use a “blended coaching model”, meaning they both listen and provide feedback to new administrators.
   
• The Leadership Performance Planning Worksheet for First Year Principals © is used to provide structure and to help coaches assess the strengths and needs of the new administrator.
   
• New administrators receive a minimum of 30 contact hours. Examples of how this time is utilized include one-on-one listening sessions, assessing the administrator’s leadership skills in a staff meeting, or observing a new administrator’s instructional leadership skills in the classroom and providing feedback.
   
• New Administrators also attend at least four sessions organized by DASL that provide valuable tools to use in their new role.

View the Schedule of Events to see the 2009-2010 sessions. 

For more information please contact Dave Sechler, DASL Associate, at 302-855-1626 or dsechler@udel.edu.