Section 281.83.9. Mentoring and induction program for administrators.

       83.9(1) Purpose. A beginning administrator mentoring and induction program is created to promote excellence in school leadership, improve classroom instruction, enhance student achievement, build a supportive environment within school districts, increase the retention of promising school leaders, and promote the personal and professional well-being of administrators.

       83.9(2) District participation. Each school board shall establish an administrator mentoring program for all beginning administrators. The school board may adopt the model program developed by the department or develop the program locally. Each school board’s beginning administrator mentoring and induction program shall, at a minimum, provide for one year of programming to support the Iowa standards for school administrators adopted pursuant to 2007 Iowa Code Supplement section 256.7(27), and to support beginning administrators’ professional and personal needs. Each school board shall include in the program the mentor selection process, supports for beginning administrators, and the organizational and collaborative structures. Each district must also provide the budget, establish a process for sustainability of the program, and establish a process for program evaluation. The school board employing an administrator shall determine the conditions and requirements of an administrator participating in a program established pursuant to this rule. A school board shall include its plan in the school district’s comprehensive school improvement plan.

       83.9(3) Recommendation for licensure. By the end of a beginning administrator’s first year of employment, the beginning administrator shall be comprehensively evaluated to determine if the administrator meets expectations to move to a professional administrator license. The school district or area education agency shall recommend the beginning administrator for a professional administrator license to the board of educational examiners upon the administrator’s completion of a successful comprehensive evaluation. The evaluation process must include documented evidence of the administrator’s competence in meeting the Iowa leadership standards. A school district or area education agency may allow a beginning administrator a second year to demonstrate competence in the Iowa standards for school administrators if, after conducting a comprehensive evaluation, the school district or area education agency determines that the administrator is likely to successfully demonstrate competence in the Iowa standards for school administrators by the end of the second year. Upon notification by the school district or area education agency, the board of educational examiners shall grant a beginning administrator who has been allowed a second year to demonstrate competence a one-year extension of the beginning administrator’s initial license. An administrator granted a second year to demonstrate competence shall undergo a comprehensive evaluation at the end of the second year.