Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to get the opinion of a panel of experts as to which classroom management strategies should be implemented in urban school district mentoring programs to help beginning teachers who are placed in hard-to-staff schools in Los Angeles County, California. Methodology. This Delphi study included 20 expert mentors who work in an urban school district. Data were collected using e-mail and some were returned directly to the researcher. The return rate was 75% for Round 1 and 100% for Round 2. In addition, 4 mentors agreed to be interviewed. Findings. From a list of 25 classroom management skills, 10 skills were identified as being highly important: (a) connect instruction to "real life"; (b) find a way to connect with each student; (c) be mobile in the classroom and use proximity to help students and to control student behavior; (d) do not challenge students by criticizing or embarrassing them; (e) always maintain the appearance of control; (f) be consistent, fair, and respectful; (g) maintain a consistent classroom routine; (h) be consistent in enforcing rules, consequences, and rewards; (j) create an environment that is conducive to learning; and (k) let students know your expectations. Conclusions. There is a gap between what is being taught to beginning teachers who are placed in hard-to-staff schools, and what they need to know in order to be effective teachers able to increase the student achievement of at-risk students. All of the mentors who were interviewed, agreed that building relationships and making instruction relevant as well as using effective classroom management strategies were very important in preparing beginning teachers to work with at-risk students. Future research. What do teacher preparation programs and urban school districts need to do in order to prepare beginning teachers with the necessary skills to effectively manage the challenges they will face in hard-to-staff schools in urban school districts?