The Impact of Mentoring and Scholarships on Teacher Candidates - Volume 49 - Article 6

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda

The article examines how mentoring and academic scholarships affect teacher candidates from under-represented backgrounds. Using demographic information, financial need, and academic performance, the study focuses on eight Midwest university educator preparation participants. Scholarship recipients received $1,500 per semester for two terms and were paired with a university mentor and an in-district mentor across two rural districts. Data were collected through pre- and post-surveys, follow-up surveys after professional development, and spring 2023 interviews to assess mentoring efficacy, retention, and professional development impacts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages28

Reading Time1 h 11 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Research Overview

Recruitment and Retention of Teacher Candidates

The Reality for Teacher Candidates

Educational Considerations | Volume 49 Number 3 | Article 6 | | --- | --- | | 2024
The Impact of Mentoring and Scholarships on Teacher Candidates
Linda Gray Smith
Northwest Missouri State University, [lsmith@nwmissouri.edu](lsmith@nwmissouri.edu)
Victoria N. Seeger
Northwest Missouri State University, [vseeger@nwmissouri.edu](vseeger@nwmissouri.edu)
Michael McBride
Northwest Missouri State University, [mam77@nwmissouri.edu](mam77@nwmissouri.edu)
See next page for additional authors
Follow this and additional works at: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations)
Part of the Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License. | | Recommended Citation Smith, Linda Gray; Seeger, Victoria N.; McBride, Michael; and Wall, Timothy J. (2024) "The Impact of Mentoring and Scholarships on Teacher Candidates," Educational Considerations: Vol. 49: No. 3. [https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2380](https://doi.org/10.4148/0146-9282.2380) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Educational Considerations by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please [contact](contact cads@k-state.edu)[ cads@k-state.edu](contact cads@k-state.edu). The Impact of Mentoring and Scholarships on Teacher Candidates Authors Linda Gray Smith, Victoria N. Seeger, Michael McBride, and Timothy J. Wall This article is available in Educational Considerations: [https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol49/iss3/6](https://newprairiepress.org/edconsiderations/vol49/iss3/6) The Impact of Mentoring and Scholarships on Teacher Candidates Linda Gray Smith, Victoria Seeger, Michael McBride, and Tim Wall Introduction Research Overview. Using data based on demographics, financial need, and academic performance, the researchers identified eight Midwest university educator preparation candidates from under-represented backgrounds. Each teacher candidate was invited to receive an academic scholarship of $1,500 per semester for two terms—fall 2022 and spring 2023—with the understanding each scholarship recipient would be paired with a university mentor and an in district mentor from one of two rural school districts with close proximity to the university. Students were required to attend introductory, professional learning, and culminating sessions in order to receive and retain the scholarship funds. Researchers sought to understand perceptions on mentoring, financial support, and professional development from the teacher candidates while investigating the impact of mentoring on retention. For the mentors and district administrator participants, the researchers wanted to learn their perspectives on the efficacy of the grant components and impact on each district’s ability to recruit teachers into the field of education. To measure this, researchers used a pre-and post-survey for scholarship recipients, university mentors, school district mentors, and district administrator partners. Following each professional development event, surveys were conducted with participants and mentors. At the end of the spring 2023 semester, interviews were conducted with each student participant. The focus of this article is the research conducted with the teacher candidates. Recruitment and Retention of Teacher Candidates. There is a shortage of certified teachers in the United States and a disparity in the representativeness of the teacher workforce when considering the students who comprise public schools in Missouri (Katnik, 2016) and the U.S. (Aragon, 2016; Martin & Mulvihill, 2016). Katnik (2016) also notes that there is a lack of diverse representation in the Missouri teacher workforce. During the summer of 2022, the Missouri Depa

FAQs

How were teacher candidates selected for the scholarship program?

Candidates were identified using data on demographics, financial need, and academic performance, focusing on individuals from under-represented backgrounds.

What support did scholarship recipients receive during the study?

Recipients received $1,500 per semester for two terms and were paired with both a university mentor and an in-district mentor, along with required professional learning sessions.

How did the researchers measure the impact of mentoring and scholarships?

They used pre- and post-surveys for scholarship recipients, university mentors, district mentors, and district administrators, plus surveys after each professional development event and interviews conducted at the end of spring 2023.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by dawugda