Making Moves: Use of the Gradual Increase of Responsibility Model for Mentoring Student Teachers in Residency.

This article examines the impact of training mentor teachers in the Gradual Increase of Responsibility (GIR) model on mentoring novice teachers during yearlong elementary teaching residencies. The GIR model outlines five mentoring moves—modeling, recommending, questioning, affirming, and praising—that provide decreasing levels of scaffolding aligned with residents’ growing skills. A mixed-methods case study found that residents whose mentors were trained in the GIR model demonstrated significantly greater growth in teaching performance compared to a control group, with qualitative data highlighting the dialogic, flexible, and strengths-based nature of mentoring interactions. The study emphasizes the importance of mentor training that supports differentiated, responsive mentoring practices and suggests that sustained, school-based residencies offer valuable contexts for developmental mentoring that fosters resident agency and professional growth.