MENTOR PROGRAM TO INCREASE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SCHOOL ATTENDENCE

OVERVIEW

This school-based mentor program for at-risk ninth-grade students was designed to improve academic achievement and school attendance. Students are assigned a mentor who works in their school and meet with the mentor on a weekly basis. An experimental evaluation of the program found that it did not produce any significant impacts on academic achievement or school attendance.

DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM

Target population: at-risk ninth grade students

Mentors, who are either school teachers or school staff, are assigned four at-risk ninth- grade students as mentees. Mentors meet individually with their mentees for ten minutes a week and hold a combined session with all four mentees for 30 minutes a month. Mentors prepare monthly progress reports on their mentees and can hold up to one additional mentoring session per week if the mentor thinks it is necessary, or the mentee requests it.

During mentoring sessions, mentors encourage mentees to develop a positive attitude, identify personal values and goals, be open to new ideas, use creative problem-solving strategies, be an attentive listener, ask assertive questions, be an independent thinker, recognize his or her individual strengths, develop self-confidence, take risks, be aware of their environment, and have flexible attitudes. Mentors work with mentees on a number of different school problems; contact parents through letters, phone calls and conferences; and provide mentees with written praise. If a student misses more than three days of school in a nine-week period, his or her attendance is monitored daily for ten days by the program coordinator (a school administrator). Parents are involved in the program through an introduction session, a pamphlet, conferences, and a handbook.

The program coordinator is responsible for collecting data, evaluating the effectiveness of the program, scheduling and attending staffing and conferences, training and observing mentors, and hosting the introductory parent session.

EVALUATION(S) OF PROGRAM

Davis, H. (1988). A mentor program to assist in increasing academic achievement and attendance of at-risk ninth grade students. Unpublished Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

Evaluated population: Forty ninth-grade students who failed ninth grade, or who were promoted to ninth grade following failing two years in elementary and/or middle school, were evaluated. The students were all 14 to 17 years of age, enrolled in school full-time, and had been absent for 15 or more days in the previous school year.

Approach: The students were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n=20) or a control group (n=20). Students in the experimental group were assigned a mentor and participated in the program as described above. Students in the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were collected on all 40 students every nine weeks throughout the school year. Information was collected on school attendance, number of courses taken, number of courses dropped or added, number of courses passed, grade-point average, number of courses failed, and whether the student was enrolled in school or dropped out. These data were compared with baseline data collected from the previous school year to calculate changes in GPA and school attendance.

Results: There were no significant differences between groups in changes in GPA or school attendance.

SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION

References

Davis, H. (1988). A mentor program to assist in increasing academic achievement and attendance of at-risk ninth grade students. Unpublished Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.

KEYWORDS: Adolescents, high school, high-risk, urban, school-based, mentoring, academic achievement/grades, attendance

Program information last updated 8/9/11

© Child Trends 2003