NCJ Number
210238
Date Published
December 2004
Length
47 pages
Annotation
This report reviews recent evaluations of school-based mentoring programs to provide a greater insight into these programs, both supporting the strength of the mentoring model and providing caution regarding some of the model’s possible limitations.
Abstract
With increasing pressure on schools to improve academic performance and meet academic standards, mentoring has been seen as a way to fill this need, and today, there has been a rapid growth of school-based approaches to mentoring. In recent years, there have been evaluations conducted on school-based mentoring (SBM) programs showing promising findings about SBM. This report follows up on some of the issues raised in these recent evaluations. A survey was conducted of youth, mentors, teachers, and case managers from three Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America (BBBSA) school-based programs. The intent was to examine some of the areas addressed in earlier reports, as well as recent studies in the hopes of offering insight into SBM before a more definitive impact study is conducted. The report addressed several questions, only hinted at in initial studies and includes: (1) what are the characteristics of mentor-youth matches in school-based programs; (2) what is the quality of the mentoring relationships; and (3) what kinds of benefits may be gained from involvement. Several key conclusions were found which support the strength of SBM, as well as potential limitations. These include: (1) matches in the programs reported fairly close relationships; (2) agency support for school-based mentors is essential in creating strong, long-lasting mentoring relationships that make a difference; (3) youth involved in SBM appear to receive some benefits from their involvement; (4) SBM may have different effects from those found in community-based programs; and (5) match length may have important implications for the benefits youth receive from mentoring. Endnotes, references, and appendixes