New leaders in educational systems sometimes fail to live up to their potential, despite obvious talent, ability and enthusiasm. In part, this may be because they have no one with whom to discuss troublesome issues or to turn to with problems--or at least no one in whom they are comfortable confiding. Some school districts have mentor programs for…

Many districts are struggling with the problem of administrator retention. Hoffman (2004) identifies some of the reasons for this: (1) Increased accountability expectations; (2) Diminished or static levels of resources to support reform efforts; (3) Greater administrator vulnerability to sanctions; (4) The complex demands of government and the…