This study shares the story of a mentor teacher and student teacher during a yearlong student teaching experience. It looks at how working with an educative mentor (prepared and supported to enact this role) can make a difference in the instructional practices and beliefs of a novice teacher, specifically by providing the student teacher with the…

The problems addressed by this study are (a) the significant rise in specific learning disabilities referrals and identification and (b) the inability to identify effective strategies for reducing the number of referrals and identification using Rtl models in fifth and sixth grades. A review of the literature indicated a compelling need to study…