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Although all partnerships identified a population of youth to serve, in particular partnerships the target group was central to the effort. In other words, the target group--whether consisting of dropouts, non-college bound students, students at risk for failure, or gifted students--was the primary focus, rather than the type of reform or experience to be provided. So while some project designers said, "Let's improve math and science," then defined the target group or tailored aspects to various target groups, other project designers said, "Let's recover students who have dropped out," then defined the content of the project. In the latter, support services always are present. In the former, support services often are needed, but may not be present.
Student support services are particularly important when partnerships include at-risk students among target populations. In these projects, positive outcomes may require more than an intervention activity alone. Additional services that prepare and motivate students so they can benefit from primary project activities are needed. For example, school-to-work transition activities, such as job shadowing or skills training, may be irrelevant to students on the verge of flunking or dropping out. These students may need tutor or mentor support before they become interested in improving their postgraduation opportunities. Otherwise such activities may not be viewed as relevant or worth the effort required. The following describes two such programs.
A peer tutor-mentor program for at-risk high school students helped support student learning in a school-to-work transition program. Students participating as both tutor-mentors and as tutees benefited, demonstrating better attendance classroom performance, and staying in school. A curriculum was developed to train tutor-mentor students, who could earn college credit by completing the training. The program attained recognition by the community as a success, and the curriculum was used with nonstudent groups to train volunteer tutors.
As of 1993, 300 students participated in the peer tutor-mentor program. According to an evaluation conducted by the California Education Research Cooperative at University of California, Riverside, participating students stayed in school longer, were absent less frequently, and performed better in class than students not in the program. Among participants, school dropout rates fell to below 5 percent in a community where high school dropout rates approach 50 percent. Grade point averages for participating students increased .5 points and absentee rates declined by 60 percent. These results were the same for tutor-mentors as well as for the students they tutored.
The peer tutor-mentor activity gained community recognition as a success. Although intended as a support for high school students placed at risk, local elementary and middle schools requested the services of the tutor-mentors.
The Business and Education Partnership (BEP) Cooperative provided vocational, academic, and support services to at-risk high school students in a metropolitan area of Los Angeles. The partnership, administered by a multidistrict Regional Occupational Program (ROP), included businesses, community organizations, a technical college, two state universities, and the National Council on Aging. Partnership goals were to increase high school completion rates and smooth transition from high school to employment or further education. Activities included academic and career counseling, mentoring and tutoring, job coaching, academic and job-related skills development, and student support services.
The peer tutor-mentor activity was part of a broader tutor-mentor program that included business and community-based volunteers of all ages. It helped to track student progress, develop academic and job-related skills, and increase students' attachment to school. Through continual tracking, staff made certain that the tutor-mentor match with the student was an appropriate one. Such tracking took place whether the tutor-mentor was a business person, retiree, community member, or peer. In addition, feedback helped staff make teachers aware of relevant information, such as reasons for changes or persistent problems in individual student performance.
Upon entry into the ROP, guidance counselors conducted a comprehensive academic and vocational assessment of each student. Profiles generated by these assessments were used to develop individualized career and education plans and match tutors and students. Tutors were responsible for general encouragement, homework help, and morale-building. Primarily they took an active interest in the student and held the student accountable for school attendance and progress, providing a bridge to partnership staff. The partnership provided transportation and an official place for tutor-student meetings.
A unique aspect of this program was that both service providers and recipients often were identified as at-risk students. Counselors saw this as a mutually beneficial situation that facilitated tutor-student rapport and increased self-esteem and social integration for both types of participants. Enthusiasm for the program was high, especially among the peer tutor-mentors. Project staff viewed one positive benefit of the program as opening up the helping professions for students trained in these roles.
A special tutor-mentor curriculum was developed by partnership staff, guidance counselors, and assessment specialists to train students for the dual tutor-mentor role. Students participating in the tutor-mentor training could earn college credit in the guidance program at a local state university. The curriculum was not exclusive to peer tutoring and already was being used in other settings with other volunteer groups such as retirees, community members, and businesspersons.
East San Gabriel Valley is a working-class neighborhood in the central and east sections of the city and county of Los Angeles. The ROP serves a significant number of at-risk students with one or more social or behavior problems, such as potential dropouts, pregnant and parenting teens, students with gang involvement, and students from homes with substance abuse and family violence. Many of these students live in economically depressed, high-crime areas. Students enrolling in the ROP's vocational programs often are undermotivated with relatively high probabilities of dropping out. The success of the peer tutoring program under these conditions indicates the promise of this practice for other settings.
One partner organization had a background in providing tutoring and mentoring training and was able to provide information regarding its own experiences and programs, as well as some curriculum materials.
The curriculum developed for the BEP tutoring program is available and is transferable to other settings. In addition, the curriculum is not peer-specific and already is being used with other groups interested in volunteer tutoring. For example, the National Council on Aging is using the curriculum to train retired persons to act as tutor-mentors to students. Also available is a handbook, Peer Tutoring and Business Mentoring for At-Risk Students, that details not only the curriculum, but the process of implementing the program, recruiting participants, and conducting the assessments.
Long-term, committed mentorships were established as part of the Corporate Coaches for Career Development project, which was intended to increase career awareness, develop positive self-concepts, and increase the number of rural and economically disadvantaged gifted students enrolled in higher education. Coaches received training, developed advisory relationships with high school students throughout their junior and senior years, and were monitored by business codirectors. Students and coaches received quarterly newsletters and summer bulletins that provided college and career information. Coaches received handbooks to help them in the mentoring process and to guide them in reinforcing the career and employability skills training provided in student workshops.
The Corporate Coaches project served 142 students. The school staff serving as codirectors reported improved self-perceptions in participating students and increases in the number of students planning postsecondary education.
The Corporate Coaches project aimed to increase postsecondary school enrollment among traditionally underrepresented students who were gifted. The project aimed to bolster self-esteem and to encourage achievement in students who were performing below their potential (65 percent of the participants were below performance expectations and 48 percent had no plans for postsecondary education when they entered the Coaches project).
Economically disadvantaged rural students worked with volunteer mentors who helped them learn about career opportunities and improve their self-concepts. The project hinged on the Corporate Coaches volunteer mentor. Coaches committed to a two-year relationship with a participating high school student, generally through grades 11 and 12.
Mentor training was provided in a one and one-half hour session at the start of project involvement. Trainers explained the purpose of the project, detailed the role of the Corporate Coaches mentor, and went over support materials. The session included activities to train mentors in relationship-building, goal-directedness, and closure. In addition, previous Corporate Coaches mentors shared experiences and advice and reinforced information delivered to students in workshops. Instructive video segments from "My Mentor" were used. Coaches received mentoring handbooks as well. This was an important source of ongoing support because one-time training sessions proved to be an ineffective means of initiating and sustaining new behavior. Materials alone were not sufficient to build and maintain new relationships. Coaches had specially designed notebooks with suggested activities to help them focus on topics the students were studying. These materials helped them carry on their role of reinforcers of new skills. In view of this, the project included ongoing monitoring components and the handbook contained contact information for technical assistance and advice.
An informal gathering of the business mentors also was included in the beginning of the second-year activities. This session was intended both to refocus the mentors on general project objectives and also to attune them to the particular needs of high school seniors in career and higher education planning. Coaches also received handbooks for year two.
In addition, several communication strategies supported the mentoring relationship. During the two-year cycle, coaches and students received quarterly newsletters and summer bulletins with college planning and career information, information on relevant programs, and items recognizing participant accomplishments. These publications provided a way for mentors and the program to publicly recognize their students' accomplishments, thus contributing to their self-esteem.
The mentors also were monitored by business codirectors throughout the two-year cycle. This was accomplished through periodic follow-up calls during the school year. In addition, a formal survey of students and mentors was conducted at the end of year one. This feedback was used to make sure that inappropriate matches did not continue. Survey results also were used in the newsletters as a means of refocusing the mentors and students on the objectives of the project and as a source of instruction and advice.
This was a statewide effort with regionally based codirectors. Twelve rural school districts were targeted. Several of the target communities have large corporate employers, but many are dependent on small businesses as the mainstays of the communities. In these rural communities, families frequently do not place a high value on postsecondary education. In many families, older children help provide for their families, and a student's choice to attend school or a training program following high school graduation may jeopardize the family's economic survival.
A mentoring handbook tailored to the Corporate Coaches project is available. It includes material adapted from the United Way Mentor Training Curriculum.
Curriculum notebooks for year one and year two of the program are available to facilitate the work of local trainers recruited from the business community.
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[PartII: Section III: School-to-Work Transition]