PEER ASSISTANCE AND REVIEW: AN ANALYSIS OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OF PHILADELPHIA’S PAR PROGRAM

Abstract

Urban school districts are beleaguered with the high attrition rate of teachers. This results in a staff that is largely inexperienced, and a large cost to the district in training and induction programs. Mentoring programs have been linked to new teacher retention, and one particular mentoring program, Peer Assistance and Review (PAR), is widely used by districts to create a structured support system for teachers. This mixed-methods study examined key players from the School District of Philadelphia’s PAR program, regarding their successes and failures within the program. By examining the PAR program in depth, we can identify the key components participants perceive to be important to the program, and make recommendations for PAR to meet optimal success.