Commissioner’s Memo LIC-12-040, posted on April 13, 2012, announced the transition from Arkansas' Pathwise Mentoring Model for novice teachers to a new Arkansas Induction Mentoring Model (AIMM), to be implemented in the 2013-2014 school year.
It has now been decided that the rollout of the new AIMM program will better serve Arkansas teachers and administrators if implementation is changed to the 2014-2015 school year. This change will correspond with, and complement, the state-wide implementation of the Arkansas Teacher Excellence Support System (AR-TESS) that is scheduled for the 2014-2015 school year.
During the transition (through the 2013-2014 school year), Pathwise Induction/Mentoring will continue with the current structure. No mentor recalibrations will be held during the summer of 2013. However, there will be Pathwise three-day trainings around the state to accommodate school districts' mentor shortages for the 2013-2014 school year. School districts with mentor shortages should contact the local Educational Service Co-operative for information on upcoming Pathwise trainings for the summer of 2012 and the summer of 2013.
Training for AIMM will begin in the summer of 2014. AIMM is based on Charlotte Danielson’s Framework for Teaching and will incorporate those components. While there are a few extra components to AIMM (such as incorporating technology in the classroom and keeping accurate records), mentors will find the AIMM framework very similar to Pathwise. AIMM will also reflect a more collaborative approach to mentoring, with mentors and novice teachers exploring specific modules of instruction to facilitate the mentoring process, thus ensuring quality mentoring for all novice teachers.
Questions about AIMM may be addressed to Maureen Harness at 501.683.4382 or maureen.harness@arkansas.gov.