Does
mentoring borderline sophomore students make a difference
in their academic outcomes?
Summary
The goal of our action research project was to determine
the effectiveness of mentoring tenth-grade students
and to monitor their progress on the Delaware State
Testing Program. We were looking to see if a link
could be established between mentoring and getting
students who are considered “borderline” to meet
the standards.
Most
research shows a positive correlation between student
achievement in school and participation in an effective
mentoring program. During the 2004–2005 school year,
William Penn initiated a staff-to-student mentoring
program, focusing on borderline students. Over the
year, we examined this program to see if it was
effective and what changes could be implemented
to make it more so. Our research concluded that
there were communication issues between the program’s
goals and the people involved. We plan to implement
more of a structured mentoring program for the staff,
modeled on various programs already successfully
implemented across the country. We also plan to
identify the students earlier and develop more activities
for the staff mentor and student.
Future
implications of this program would include extending
the mentoring program to include students in the
middle schools and continuing the connection beyond
the school day to include mentoring for extracurricular
activities.
The
success of this program will be determined at the
end of the 2006 school year with the release of
the DSTP scores.We will also determine success based
on the overall performance of those students in
school. Finally, we look to continue the program
well beyond the 2005–2006 school year.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The district should structure the Mentoring Program
so that it
- clarifies
teacher and student expectations,
- improves
parent contact and involvement,
- connects
with incoming administrators,
- identifies
ninth graders who need to be matched with mentors
for the following school year.
|