ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

learn how and when to apply educational theory. Third, communication skills are refined.
Fourth, novice school administrators learn some of the tricks that go along with the job and with
their specific school and/or school system. Fifth, mentees report having a greater sense of
belonging to not only their school and system but to the position of school administrator (Daresh,
2004). The benefits of the mentoring program were not limited to the participants, but were also
bestowed on the school districts.
Districts with novice administrator mentoring programs noted that they felt they had
more qualified candidates for other administrative positions that came open (Daresh, 2004). The
districts also reported that loyalty to the system by administrators who had participated in the
program was evident by their willingness to participate as a mentor in the program and the length
of their tenure in the system. While not necessarily able to be proven, many districts felt that the
program helped to insure that the district was more thoroughly saturated with the mission and
vision of the district (Daresh, 2004). If novice administrators and school districts find the
mentoring program to be successful measures then why not apply the same practice to struggling
school administrators at risk of adverse employment action?
Daresh (2004) focused on the mentoring of novice administrators, but does it not make
sense to apply a similar system of support for school administrators who are at risk of adverse
employment action? Lemley (1997) certainly thinks so; he explains that school administrators
“need to be exposed to positive examples . . . [and] to be coached, nurtured, and instructed in
how to think deeply about what we do” (p. 35). Mentoring, however, can be misconstrued.
According to DeLuca, Rogus, Raisch, and Place (1997), superintendents very often interpret
their one-on-one meetings with struggling administrators as mentoring while they also
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