First-Year Elementary Teachers and Mentor Feedback About Literacy Instruction: Exploring Perceptions, Reactions, And Impact

To establish best practices in literacy instruction, first-year elementary teachers need additional support in implementing research-based strategies in their classrooms. Mentors often play a key role in providing this support by offering feedback on literacy instruction. However, there is limited understanding of first-year elementary teachers’ perceptions of the feedback they receive from their mentors. This collective case study explored six first-year elementary teachers’ perceptions of mentor feedback, focusing on feedback characteristics and teachers’ views on which of those characteristics mattered most. Participants completed a survey about the perceived qualities of feedback and the importance of those qualities when considering feedback from their assigned mentor on literacy instruction. Additionally, each teacher participated in a 45-minute interview to further discuss and describe their experiences receiving feedback about literacy instruction. Results showed that first-year teachers highly valued feedback that was specific and actionable. They also placed great importance on having access to resources to implement their mentors' feedback, though many struggled to identify and effectively use these resources in their classrooms.