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School-Based Mentoring
As school-based mentoring has seen remarkable growth in recent years, P/PV has set out to evaluate, and understand, its effectiveness. We have done extensive work on the school-based mentoring model, including a landmark random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring—the first national study of this program model. Funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, The William T. Grant Foundation and Philip Morris USA, the study involved 10 BBBS agencies, 71 schools and 1,139 9- to 16-year-old youth randomly assigned to either a treatment group of program participants or a control group of their non-mentored peers. Surveys were administered to all participating youth, their teachers and mentors in the fall of 2004, spring of 2005 and late fall of 2005. Information on each participating school and program was also collected. The study investigated the fundamental question "Does school-based mentoring work?" and explored the pathways through which the programs have their effects.
For more information on this initiative, please contact Carla Herrera at cherrera@ppv.org.
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PUBLICATIONS
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High School Mentors In Brief: Findings from the Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring Impact Study
by Linda Jucovy and Carla Herrera
October 2009,
4 pages
This issue of P/PV In Brief is based on High School Students as Mentors, a report that examined the efficacy of high school mentors using data from P/PV's large-scale random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring programs. The brief presents an overview of the findings, which suggest that high school volunteers bring inherent strengths to their role as mentors but also present notable challenges for programs; implications for policy and practice are also explored.
 free download
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High School Students as Mentors: Findings from the Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring Impact Study
by Carla Herrera, Tina J. Kauh, Siobhan M. Cooney, Jean Baldwin Grossman and Jennifer McMaken
September 2008,
36 pages
High schools have recently become a popular source of mentors for school-based mentoring (SBM) programs. The high school Bigs program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, for example, currently involves close to 50,000 high-school-aged mentors across the country. While the use of these young mentors has several potential advantages, their age raises questions about their capacity to be consistent, positive role models, and, in turn, their potential to yield strong impacts for the youth they mentor.
With support from The Atlantic Philanthropies and in collaboration with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, P/PV set out to address these questions using data from our large-scale random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters SBM (Herrera et al. 2007). We found that, on average, high school students were much less effective than adults at yielding impacts for the youth they mentor. However, our research identified several program practices that were linked with longer, stronger and more effective high school mentor relationships. High School Students as Mentors stresses the need for programs with high school volunteers to use the inherent strengths of these volunteers and, at the same time, meet their distinct needs. Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is already initiating most of the changes suggested in the study in its high school Bigs program; it has convened a group of six of its strongest Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies to review these and other findings and share their own experiences and strategies in an effort to strengthen their model.
free download
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High School Students as Mentors: Findings from the Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring Impact Study Executive Summary
by Carla Herrera, Tina J. Kauh, Siobhan M. Cooney, Jean Baldwin Grossman and Jennifer McMaken
September 2008,
14 pages
Recently, high schools have become a popular source of mentors for school-based mentoring (SBM) programs. This executive summary outlines key findings and recommendations from our High School Students as Mentors report, which drew on data from our large-scale random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters SBM (Herrera et al. 2007). Our research indicated that, on average, high school students were much less effective than adults at yielding impacts for the youth they mentor, but it also identified several program practices that were linked with longer, stronger and more effective high school mentor relationships.
free download
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Making a Difference in Schools: The Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring Impact Study
Executive Summary
by Carla Herrera, Jean Baldwin Grossman, Tina J. Kauh, Amy F. Feldman and Jennifer McMaken with Linda Z. Jucovy
August 2007,
8 pages
Serving almost 870,000 youth nationwide, school-based mentoring is one of the fastest growing forms of mentoring in the US today. Making a Difference in Schools presents findings from a landmark random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring—the first national study of this program model. This executive summary highlights nine key findings from the full report and outlines several recommendations for policy and practice.
Hard Copy Price: $1.00
order online
free download
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Making a Difference in Schools: The Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring Impact Study
by Carla Herrera, Jean Baldwin Grossman, Tina J. Kauh, Amy F. Feldman and Jennifer McMaken with Linda Z. Jucovy
August 2007,
126 pages
School-based mentoring is one of the fastest growing forms of mentoring in the US today; yet, few studies have rigorously examined its impacts. This landmark random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring is the first national study of this program model. It involves 10 agencies, 71 schools and 1,139 9- to 16-year-old youth randomly assigned to either a treatment group of program participants or a control group of their non-mentored peers. Surveys were administered to all participating youth, their teachers and mentors in the fall of 2004, spring of 2005 and late fall of 2005.
The report describes the programs and their participants and answers several key questions, including: Does school-based mentoring work? What kinds of mentoring experiences help to ensure benefits? How much do these programs cost? Our findings highlight both the strengths of this program model and its current limitations and suggest several recommendations for refining this promising model—recommendations that
Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies across the country are already working to implement.
free download
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School-Based Mentoring: A Closer Look
by Carla Herrera
December 2004,
42 pages
With traditional mentoring programs working hard to attract new kinds of volunteers and schools facing increased pressure to help students succeed, school-based mentoring is a promising and increasingly popular approach. According to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA), the number of school-based matches grew from 27,000 in 1999 to 90,000 in 2002, an increase of 233 percent. P/PV has published two previous reports on the school-based mentoring model. School-Based Mentoring follows up on those earlier studies by analyzing the results of surveys we conducted with youth, mentors, teachers and case managers involved in three BBBS school-based mentoring programs. The report addresses the following questions: What are the characteristics of mentor-youth matches in school-based programs? What is the quality of the relationships? And what kinds of benefits may youth be gaining from involvement?
Hard Copy Price: $5.00
order online
free download
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The ABCs of School-Based Mentoring
by Linda Jucovy
December 2000,
46 pages
This technical assistance packet, written by P/PV and published by the National Mentoring Center at the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, provides practical information for youth-serving organizations that want to implement new school-based mentoring programs or strengthen existing ones. Drawing on promising practices developed by organizations around the country and on initial research findings about this relatively new approach to mentoring, the material leads readers through the steps of forming partnerships with schools: designing the program, recruiting, screening and training mentors, matching mentors with youth, and supporting the match once it is underway. It includes worksheets to help guide planning, sample forms that programs can adapt and use, and a list of additional resources. The body of the report may be downloaded below. The ABCs of School-Based Mentoring Appendix is available as a separate PDF file.
To download a revised version of The ABCs of School-Based Mentoring, published in September 2007 by The Hamilton Fish Institute on School and Community Violence and The National Mentoring Center at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, click here.
free download
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School-Based Mentoring: A First Look Into Its Potential
by Carla Herrera
September 1999,
20 pages
School-based mentoring is one of the most promising of several new mentoring approaches. This study explores some of the strengths, challenges and potential contributions of this approach by describing two well-run school-based programs. It describes characteristics of the mentors and youth involved, program practices and potential benefits to youth, and discusses implications for practitioners and directions for future research. Findings suggest that well-run school-based mentoring programs are likely to be a powerful intervention for many disadvantaged youth.
free download
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