n average, nearly 50% of teachers leave the profession by their fifth year. Not only does this represent a significant cost to school districts, but it also reduces the quality of educational services available to children. Mentoring and induction programs have been shown to improve the effectiveness and retention of novice educators, yet there is little research regarding the attributes of effective mentors.

Perhaps the most widely cited attribute is that mentors should teach the same content as their mentees, yet striving for a content match may not be the most effective use of resources or personnel. Schools that have widely adopted the team approach to supporting novice educators, have increasing numbers of cross-content matched mentors and mentees.