The Development and Initial Validation of the Mentoring Engagement Scale

ABSTRACT Professional mentoring is a potential protective factor against burnout and stress in school counselors. However, existing mentoring measures are limited by weak development procedures, inconsistent psychometric support, and limited practical use. We sought to develop and evaluate the Mentoring Engagement Scale (MES), a self‐report instrument designed to measure a person's level of engagement in receiving professional mentoring, among a sample of US school counselors. The research was conducted in two studies. In the first study, content validity was assessed using Lawshe's quantitative approach to capture expert evaluation of item essentialness. The refined scale was then administered to a sample of 324 practicing US school counselors. Exploratory factor analyses revealed a two‐factor structure— Investment and Impact —accounting for 64.2% of variance. MES scores demonstrated strong internal consistency and evidence of response validity. These findings provide initial support for the MES as a measure of school counselors’ mentoring engagement.