MMSD presents professional‑learning update, points to mentoring as driver of retention

Leaders of Madison Metropolitan School District’s Department of Professional Learning used the Instruction Work Group meeting to lay out how the department supports teachers and to present early metrics the district is using to measure impact.

Executive Director Lelle Fischer said the department runs new‑educator orientation, mentors, coaching, role‑alike learning and an online talent portal. Fischer gave counts: 79 active courses in the talent portal, 457 staff who accessed choice asynchronous learning this school year and roughly 15,000 hours logged in roll‑alike learning across the district. She said 190 teachers currently have district mentors and reported a 98% satisfaction rate among those mentored teachers.

Fischer and staff also linked mentoring to retention: staff cited a district figure that in a recent year roughly 90% of mentored teachers of color returned for a second year; staff said they would provide precise counts on request. Board members pressed for that data and for the budgetary assumptions that make classroom visits and mentoring feasible; Fischer said the department budgets for at least one classroom visit for each new teacher assigned a mentor.

Two first‑year teachers described mentoring as decisive. "My mentor provided me with critical academic support, emotional support, and personal support — because of her I was able to continue teaching when I was close to quitting," said Insula Kido, a fourth‑grade teacher at Randall Elementary. Lily Bower, a DLI kindergarten teacher, described weekly coaching cycles with her instructional coach and the value of a mentor who could share resources and perspective across buildings.

District leaders said professional learning will continue to align with MMSD Excellence Together priorities and that implementation plans and budgets for mentoring and coaching will be refined as the district moves from planning to implementation.