CALSA transforming the power structure: all leaders should understand how cultural and racial differences and changing demographics affect those with whom they share the future of education.

The notion that one generation can guide the next is certainly not new and seems fundamental. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine how modern civilization would have evolved, or even survived, if each successive generation did not build effectively on the lessons of the past (Reinarz and White, 2001). Throughout history and across cultures, elders, often called "mentors," have been called upon to pass along their knowledge and skills.

In today's challenging times, as the pool of district and school administrators shrinks and fewer people are willing to carry on the role of educational leadership, a new generation of leaders must step forward and serve the students of California. This is also a critical time to provide a mentoring program that supports these new leaders. For too long, district and school site administrators have been expected to "suck it up" and "be strong" as they struggle to guide their schools and districts in the "exhausted loneliness of administration."

CALSA Administrator Mentoring Program

In 2004 I had the opportunity to partner with the California Association of Latino Superintendents and Administrators in order to design and develop an administrator mentoring program for the organization. Now serving its sixth cohort, more than 100 mentors and proteges have participated in a program that is now widely recognized in California, and perhaps the nation, as the premier mentoring program for the development of Latina and Latino school administrators.

As with most endeavors, we have faced both difficult and joyous moments. Nevertheless, the fact that many of our mentors and proteges have gone on to serve at the national, state and local levels as educational leaders provides empirical evidence that the program has been successful. Recently, Thelma Melendez de Santa Ana, a protege in Cohort No. 1 and a mentor in Cohort No. 5, was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as assistant secretary of education for elementary and secondary education.

Larry Aceves, a former school superintendent who is currently running for state superintendent of public instruction in California, was a mentor in Cohort No. 1 and is a proud spokesperson of the CALSA Administrator Mentoring Program.

Ken Noonan, former superintendent of Oceanside School District, also served on the State Board of Education; and Tony Monreal (Cohort No. 5 mentor), newly named superintendent in the Oxnard Elementary School District, recently served as deputy superintendent, Curriculum and Instruction Branch, California Department of Education.

Cohort No. 6 began its two-year commitment to the mentoring program in July of 2009. This cohort is twice as large as any previous cohort and the 20 program proteges represent 18 different school districts across the state. Program mentors also represent 18 different school districts and organizations from across the state.

Twenty of the previous proteges received promotions during or after completing the mentoring program, and seven others were accepted to doctoral programs. Four of those have completed their doctorates, while the other three are nearing completion.

Although we have since become a more diverse program, the initial primary motivation for the development of a Latino-based mentoring program was the inequity in the number of Latino school administrators when noted in comparison to the percentage of Latina and Latino students attending California schools. For school superintendents the data was even more disturbing. In 2005-2006 there were 1,056 school districts in California led by school superintendents; only 83 (7.9 percent) of these superintendents were Latina or Latino. Of the 83, 61 (5.8 percent) were male and 22 (2.1 percent) were females (California Department of Education, 2004b).

Currently, 49 percent of California students are Latina or Latino, while just 17.7 percent of the state's public school administrators are Latina or Latino (California Department of Education, 2009). This is an increase of just 1 percent since 2004, substantiating the need for a mentoring program.

Fighting a history of low expectations

Serving as a role model continues to be a significant responsibility for Latina and Latino school administrators. For Latina and Latino students, the presence of a Latina or Latino educational leader may serve to contend against a history of low expectations. Latina and Latino school educational leaders, many of them the recipients of a history of low expectations, are often the only models of educational success that Latina and Latino students see and can relate to as ethnic role models.

A mission of CALSA is to promote the success of current and future leaders. The goal is to cultivate a cadre of competent, credible and confident Latina and Latino leaders who can serve as mentor and protege models for present and future cohorts.

Program requirements remain the same for participants as they did in 2004. The CALSA Administrator Mentoring Program is formal, structured and protege-driven, and participants are selected through a process that has been sharpened over the years. Each interested party must submit an application, along with a letter of support from their district superintendent.

Applicants then take part in an interview conducted by selected members of the CALSA executive board, the mentoring program director and executives of companies funding the mentoring program. Interviews are not necessarily held to determine whether or not an applicant will take part in the program (much of this decision is determined through an application screening process), but rather to establish a mentoring pair designation.

Once they become members of the mentoring program, mentors and proteges are required to develop a mentoring agreement and a year-long developmental plan. Both the mentoring agreement and the developmental plan are reviewed on at least three other occasions throughout the year.

Program participants are also required to meet as a cohort a minimum of four times a year at selected sites throughout the state. Proteges must contact their mentors at least every two weeks, either personally or through a pre-arranged method of distance mentoring, after which proteges are required to submit their mentoring program experiences to a Web page. Each program participant makes a two-year commitment to serve as either a mentor of protege.

Latino administrators are members of an educational system whose population is rapidly changing. There is a unique opportunity to make leadership, cultural responsiveness and equity accessible in an arena where it has rarely existed. But merely having the opportunity is not enough. All school leaders, no matter their ethnicity, must be capable and knowledgeable if they are to be successful.

With the changing demographics of the state and nation, the power structure is being transformed. All leaders should be ready for that change and understand how cultural and racial differences affect those with whom they share the future of education. The presence of Latina and Latino school leaders able to mentor and support each other through the transformation will continue to help make the transition to "shared power" efficient and enduring.

"Our Elders have created for us a sacred way of being in the universe ... It is our responsibility to pass this understanding on to the next generation."

--Tessie Naranjo (Pueblo of Santa Clara)

References

Bell, C.R. (1996). Managers as Mentors: Building partnerships for learning. San Francisco: Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc.

CDE (2009). Enrollment in California public schools by ethnic designation, 2004-2009.

Reinarz, A.G. & White, E.R.(2001). Beyond teaching to mentoring: New directions for teaching and learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers

Samier, E. (2000). "Public Administration Mentorship: Conceptual and Pragmatic Considerations." Journal of Educational Administration, 38(1), 83-101.

Stoddard, J.T. (March 7, 1998). "Croaks from the Lily Pad: Toward the Provision of a Peer Mentoring Program for Principals." International Electronic Journal For Leadership in Learning. Retrieved August 20, 2002, from www.acs.ucalgary.ca

Kenneth R. Magdaleno is assistant professor, Kremen School of Education and Human Development, California State University, Fresno Department of Educational Research and Administration.