For this quantitative study, we used a multiple logistic regression technique to investigate the relationship between the number of meetings with an academic advisor and retention of first-generation students, as represented by enrollment status and academic standing at a large, public research institution in the Southeast. Consistent with previous studies and student retention literature, the number of advisor meetings (independent variable) was a significant predictor of student retention. Findings from this study suggest that for every meeting with an academic advisor, the odds that a student will be retained increase by 13%.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe the complexity that underlies categorizing best practices in the field of mentoring. A further purpose is to propose a way to deal with this issue in order to begin to develop and identify research-based best practices in mentoring in education. Design/methodology/approach -This is a conceptual paper proposing a structure for identifying best practices in mentoring. Findings -The field of mentoring is replete with suggestions about best practices in education, but many are unsubstantiated by empirical research. The authors believe this is due in part to the breath of mentoring resulting in the use of so many different terms, conceptualizations, and applications that it is difficult for practitioners to converse about mentoring and for researchers to synthesize what is already known. They suggest an additional problem is the ambiguity regarding the term best practice. The authors cite these challenges and offer suggests for defining best practices and synthesizing the literature across contexts. Originality/value -The value of the paper is in the awareness it creates and in the possibilities it presents. By outlining the complex factors related to mentoring best practices, scholars will better understand the constraints that limit our ability to harness all that is known about mentoring best practices. Further, the authors offer a unique way to approach this task, utilizing a collaborative team approach across contexts.

Purpose: The public expects school leaders to be moral exemplars, yet prior research indicates that teachers and, more recently, school principals may score lower than other career groups on a widely used measure of moral reasoning, the Defining Issues Test. Moreover, little empirical research has been conducted on educators during leadership preparation in graduate school. The purpose of this research was to create a baseline profile for moral reasoning in educational leadership/administration graduate students in one Southern state and to compare their scores with a composite national average for graduate students across disciplines to see if educational interventions are needed. Research Design: In the summer of 2012, the updated Defining Issues Test–2 was offered via e-mail as an online questionnaire to 539 master’s, educational specialist, and doctoral students in the five advanced-track schools in the study state. The questionnaire also gathered data on the students’ demographics and the virtual test-taking environment. Findings: Complete data for 113 respondents (a 21% response rate) show that the educational leadership/administration graduate students prefer a maintaining norms schema when solving moral problems. In fact, participants scored significantly lower (M = 30) on postconventional (advanced) moral thinking than the national norm for graduate students across disciplines (M = 41) and a historical average for graduate students (M = 53) on the Defining Issues Test. Conclusions: Researchers urge evidenced-based educational interventions for this group—specifically, Rest’s four-component model, which addresses all four moral psychological processes: sensitivity, judgment, motivation, and character. They also recommend beginning ethics instruction with professional identity development. Classification: This is an empirical study.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to define and describe the mentoring mindset in a protégé. The central research question was: What constitutes a mentoring mindset in a protégé who is poised to receive maximum benefits from a mentoring relationship, as described by the mentor? Design/methodology/approach – A phenomenological approach was used to conduct this study. Interviews were conducted with veteran school principals who were trained mentors, assigned and paired with newly appointed principals for a year of mentoring. The identification of the phenomenon of the mentoring mindset of the protégé was derived from the mentors’ perspectives of their protégés’ behaviors, dispositions, attitudes, and competencies, as they were conveyed in the research interviews. Findings – A definition of the protégé's mentoring mindset was created after analysis of the interview data, and indicators of the presence and absence of the mindset were formulated into a Protégé Mentoring Mindset Framework that provides information on protégé competencies. The protégé with a mentoring mindset takes initiative, possesses a learning orientation, has a goal orientation, is relational and reflective. Conversely, the protégé who does not have a mentoring mindset lacks initiative, lacks a learning orientation, a goal orientation, and is not relational or reflective. Research limitations/implications – One limitation of the study is that it only gathered the perceptions of the mentor, but the protégé is the one being described. This, however, is consistent with other studies of protégé competencies. The study was conducted with a specific population (school principals) in a southern state of the USA. Hence, it cannot be assumed to be generalizable to other populations or fields of study. Replication of this research in other settings is suggested, so that the Framework can be further affirmed, disconfirmed, or augmented. Implications of this research could be that the Mentoring Mindset Framework can be used for considering the varied competencies of the protégé, and can be used in both mentor and protégé training. Originality/value – To this researcher's knowledge, there has not been a Protégé Mentoring Mindset Framework of competencies created in mentoring research.