Little impact seen from student mentor programs
Student-mentoring programs had no significant impact on students' academic
achievement and engagement, interpersonal relationships and high-risk or
delinquent behaviors, according to a Department of Education impact study.
However, the study of 32 student-mentoring program and 2,573 students in grades
4-8 did find different impacts for girls and boys.
Mentoring programs showed some benefits for girls and mixed results for boys
in subgroup analyses. Girls with mentors self-reported higher scholastic
efficacy and better school bonding and pro-social behaviors, the study says.
While boys with mentors had more of a future orientation (as did girls), they
had lower scores on pro-social behavior scales than controls. Younger students
with mentors (below the age of 12) had a decrease in truancy compared to their
control group peers.
The researchers measured a total of 17 outcomes in the domains of
interpersonal relationships and personal responsibility, academic achievement
and engagement, and high-risk or delinquent behavior to evaluate the impact of
student mentor programs.
Mentors, on average, reported meeting with their students, on a weekly basis
for approximately one hour per meeting. For students who were matched with
mentors, the average length of the relationship was 5.8 months. Controls were
students who were wait-listed for mentors. Because 35% of the control group
students reported receiving mentoring either from the school-based program or
elsewhere in the community and because some treatment group students did not
meet with a mentor, the treatment contrast was reduced, the researchers note.
"Impact Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education's Student
Mentoring Program," Lawrence Bernstein et al, Institute of Education Sciences,
March 2009.
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