November 4, 2026 — On October 23, NCTR’s Director of Programs Elizabeth Hearn, Associate Director of Programs Jeremy Scott, and Chief of Staff Naureen Madhani, Ph.D., delivered the keynote at the Metro Atlanta P-20 Collaborative for Teacher Preparation in Georgia. The session, “The Case for Mentor Professional Learning,” brought together approximately 140 district and school leaders, university teacher preparation leaders, state education representatives, and education partners to build a shared vision for strengthening teacher preparation.
Drawing on NCTR’s Portrait of a Mentor and Mentor Professional Learning Curriculum Content and Promising Practices, the team highlighted mentor professional learning as a critical connection across the educator preparation ecosystem. Participants explored how intentional, high-quality mentor development can strengthen not only individual mentoring relationships but also teaching and learning throughout an entire school community.
The session emphasized a central message: Students flourish when states, districts, schools, and classrooms align around the teacher. NCTR challenged education partners to invest in mentor development, align policy and funding to support effective preparation, and strengthen collaboration between educator preparation programs, nonprofits, and school districts.
The keynote provided an opportunity to deepen NCTR’s relationships across Georgia and reinforce the importance of investing in mentors as a key strategy for strengthening the educator workforce.
