What Are the Effects of Mentoring Programs for Students?

The Reference Desk has received several questions regarding family, school, and community supports for students. This week’s Digest specifically addresses the effects of mentoring programs. “The rationale for mentoring is that supportive adults can serve as mentors and can help students avoid high-risk activities and make more successful transitions to adulthood” (What Works Clearinghouse, 2009).

Question

What does the research say about the short- and long-term effects of mentoring students?

Research Synthesis

Reference Desk researchers found that mentoring programs are varied in scope and are often designed for specific purposes or populations. Because the topic as a whole is too broad to cover comprehensively here, this week’s Digest focuses on resources that address mentoring programs for students in school settings, with mixed study findings.

Publicly Available Resources

WWC Quick Review of the Report “Impact Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Mentoring Program.” June 2009; Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse; 1 page.
“The study examined the effects of the U.S. Department of Education’s [School-based] Student Mentoring Program (SMP) on students’ interpersonal relationships, academic outcomes, and delinquent and risk behaviors…. Study authors found that the student mentoring program had no statistically significant effect on the academic and behavioral outcomes they examined…” (p. 1). However, according to the full report, the authors did find “there was some scattered evidence that impacts were heterogeneous across types of students. In particular, impacts on girls were statistically significantly different from impacts on boys for two self-reported scales…. For girls, the impact on Scholastic Efficacy and School Bonding was positive and statistically significant” (p. 91).
School-Based Mentoring. 2007; Karcher, M., & Herrera, C.; Alexandria, VA: MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership; Research in Action series, Issue 6; ERIC Document #ED502227; 32 pages.

This Research in Action brief provides an overview of research on school-based mentoring and provides examples of how to put the research into action. “Over the last ten years, mentoring has seen unprecedented growth. This has been particularly noticeable in school-based mentoring (SBM), a relatively new form of mentoring that brings mentors into schools to meet with students…” (p. 5). The authors review findings from “The Big Brothers Big Sisters SMB Impact Study” and the “Communities in Schools (CIS) Study of Mentoring in the Learning Environment (SMILE) Impact Study.” After one year of involvement in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program, “teachers reported that participating youth improved more than their non-mentored peers in several aspects of their school performance and behavior (e.g., overall performance, quality and number of assignments turned in, skipping school, serious school infractions)” (p. 5). The CIS SMILE study found that “relative to those youth who were not mentored, youth who were randomly assigned to receive a mentor improved in their self-reported connectedness to peers, self-esteem (global and present-oriented), and social support from friends” (p. 5). The authors conclude that “involving schools can help programs reach large groups of youth who may not otherwise be served, but school-based programs and their matches must adjust to the structure of the school” (p. 15).
Effectiveness of Mentor Programs: Review of the Literature from 1995 to 2000. 2001; Foster, L.; Sacramento, CA: California Research Bureau-Document Prepared at the Request of Senator Dede Alpert; ERIC Document #ED463511; 45 pages.
From the ERIC abstract: “This California Research Bureau report examines the research literature evaluating the effectiveness of mentoring programs during the past five years…. School-based programs are the most common, and rapidly expanding, type of site-based mentoring.” Descriptions and evaluation findings for school-based mentoring programs are included on pages 13-22.

The Reference Desk also found these resources and organizations to be helpful in learning more about mentoring in general:

Education Commission of the States: Mentoring/Tutoring
The Education Commission of the States provides a section on their website that includes resources, research and information about Mentoring/Tutoring.
MENTOR/National Mentoring Partnership
From the website: “MENTOR works with a strong network of state and local Mentoring Partnerships to leverage resources and provide the support and tools that mentoring organizations need to effectively serve young people in their communities.” The website contains a section of resources and research related to mentoring in general and a section that specifically addresses school-based mentoring.

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