A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

Yes, You Can: A Guide for Establishing Mentoring Programs to Prepare Youth for College--October 1998

Section 2:
Guidelines for Mentoring Programs

First Steps: Program Planning

Beginning--The First Stages of Program Development

Mentoring programs, like any successful partnership, are designed to achieve the goals and objectives of the people involved. More so than other types of programs, mentoring programs must consider the needs and goals of several constituencies--the students who will be mentored and their families, the mentors themselves, the schools, partner organizations who may contribute volunteers or resources, and the community in general. Because mentoring programs are built on shared trust and respect, they require careful planning and time to develop, implement, and evaluate.

The following points should be considered during the beginning of program development:

What specific problems need to be addressed? Before a mentoring program can be established, it is important to know what problems the program will seek to deal with. For example, does the school have a high dropout rate? Is there a low rate of college attendance?

Which children--and how many--will take part in the program? For example, does a particular elementary or secondary class need help? Or do special populations--learning disabled, handicapped, or language minority teens? Once the target population has been selected, the number of mentors who will be required and the type of commitment that will be needed from the sponsors will be clearer.

How will the program be led and coordinated? Mentoring programs need leaders to help plan and coordinate the program. Any mentor program that lacks good leadership and coordination will fail.

How will the program fit in with school and other services? The mentoring program should complement, and not compete with, the regular school day and school assignments. In some cases students may also already be receiving some form of additional assistance, such as tutoring, or participate in other positive activities, such as an afterschool program. Mentoring can be a strong component of an afterschool program, and can and should build upon and enhance what the student has learned in school.

Which existing mentoring programs have a similar focus? When beginning a new mentoring program, it is useful to examine exemplary programs that are designed to serve the same special population, such as teenage mothers or handicapped children, or to serve the same general purpose, such as college-focused mentoring and tutoring programs. Programs that have a similar focus can often help new programs identify potential obstacles, solutions, and innovative or effective practices based on their experience. Examples of model programs are provided throughout this guide and in the resource section (Section 3).

After a school, business, or community organization has considered the need for the program, the population to be served, and the person or organization that will initiate the program, the next step is to design a complete and comprehensive plan for the program. The procedures that follow are based in part on guidelines developed by the National Association of Partners in Education, a nonprofit organization in Alexandria, Virginia, which has had extensive expertise in all facets of school-community and school-business partnership programs.

Mentoring as a Network of Support

Mentoring may occur either as natural mentoring, when a sustained relationship develops naturally between a coach, teacher, neighbor, or other adult and a youth, or as planned mentoring, when a relationship is purposefully created to help a youth who may otherwise not have the access he or she needs to the wisdom and support of a caring adult (Dennis, 1993).

In the past, youth may have been more likely to come into contact with a greater number of natural mentors who played a vital, though perhaps unrecognized, role in their development. Many researchers today advocate using team mentoring, and creating mentor-rich environments, whereby youth can be exposed to several mentors on a regular basis. In this way, youth not only have greater access to mentors, and in more facets of their lives, but the time commitment and pressure on an individual mentor may be reduced. In fact, in many mentoring programs, youth form valuable, natural, mentoring relationships not only with their assigned mentors, but with the program staff and directors with whom they are in regular contact (Freedman, 1996).

Tripartite mentoring is a further innovative approach to mentoring in which, in addition to the usual adult-youth relationship, the mentored youth also serves as a mentor to a younger child. In this way, not only is the valuable resource of having a mentor extended to an additional youth, but the older youth has the experience of both being mentored and of being a mentor him or herself (Freedman, 1996). Such an experience can build understanding and acceptance of the role of the mentor, as well as develop a greater sense of self-esteem, foster responsibility, and encourage involvement in the community. Of course, just as the relationship between the youth and their adult mentor must be supervised, a similar system of monitoring and support should be in place for older youth serving as mentors to younger children.

Coordinating the Program Planning

Programs should begin by building awareness among key stakeholders in the community. Doing so early on will foster "buy-in" and commitment from groups and individuals that are critical to the program's success and will help to identify potential members of the core planning team.

When creating a planning team, it is important to remember to involve representatives of all stakeholders from the very beginning. This may include parents of the students who will be mentored, teachers and principals, or the students themselves. The planning team will define what type of mentoring the program will provide, become aware of other efforts and resources that are currently available, explain the need for mentoring in their community, and identify the potential benefits of the program for all stakeholders. Ensuring that all stakeholder groups are represented on the planning team will help to maintain the trust and involvement of these groups with the program.

Large mentoring programs may have planning teams with members selected by the superintendent of schools, college or university presidents, chief executive officers (CEOs) of corporations, or presidents of civic organizations. Small programs should also have a team in place. Solid leadership is important for ensuring that the planning team works effectively. Experts in partnership organization report that the most successful teams have leaders who-

are well respected in the community and have an established base of support;
understand the bureaucratic intricacies of dealing with schools, businesses, and civic organizations;
can devote sufficient time to the program;
are sensitive to the needs of the program participants and have superior organizational and coordinating skills;
have access to, and support from, top-level decision-makers in the partner organizations; and
have the authority to make decisions on behalf of their schools, community organizations, or corporation, including committing funds to the program (Otterbourg, 1986).

As the program progresses, the planning team will be responsible for every aspect of the program, from its inception to its evaluation. The team gets support from schools and the community; decides the purpose of the program; formulates the goals and objectives; allocates funds; writes the mentor role descriptions; appoints program staff; takes responsibility for recruiting, training, retaining, and rewarding the mentors; and regularly informs all stakeholders of the program's progress.

Assessing Needs and Potential Resources

Any school or organization that wants to develop a mentoring program should conduct an assessment to determine why the program is needed, what the school or organization hopes to gain for its students and the types of resources that will be needed to meet these needs. A thorough assessment of needs and resources is essential for determining exactly what the mentor program should--and can--look like.

Assessments can be done through questionnaires, conducting interviews, by talking and observing, and by examining data on student behavior, attendance, or achievement. The questions used in a needs assessment should be asked of members of each group of stakeholders and should reflect the needs of the students, the school or community wishing to have a mentoring program, and the program's sponsors. The following questions are examples of the kinds that should be asked in a school-based mentoring program, but many are more generally applicable. For example:

Why are mentors needed? What specific problems are the mentors intended to address? Why are mentors more suited than other forms of assistance to remedy these problems?
What are some needs that could be addressed through a mentor program? What problems are of most concern to teachers, parents, and members of the community? What age group could benefit most from having an adult mentor?
Do teachers and parents have any concerns about the idea of students having mentors?
What special knowledge and skills should the mentors have? What types of individuals would be most appropriate for the children who will be in the program?
How many mentors are needed?
How will teachers and the school be involved? If the mentoring has an academic or college-preparatory focus, which academic areas should mentors concentrate on?
What training will the mentors require? Who can provide this training?
When can mentoring take place? How often, and for how long, will mentors and students meet?
Where will mentoring take place? Is their adequate room for the mentors and their students to meet?
Will other support staff or volunteers be needed? What, if any, materials will the mentors or students need? Will mentors or students need transportation?
How will security checks be handled in a way that is respectful of the mentors and yet absolutely assures the safety of the students?

Once it has been determined that a mentoring program is needed, an equally important step is resource assessment: What will the partners and the community be able to provide to the program? Program planners should think broadly in terms of all types of resources, including: human, financial, time, materials, and facilities, to name a few. Perhaps the most important question for any program to ask is, are there existing efforts which this program could complement or build upon? Other important questions a program sponsor should ask include:

Who can serve as mentors--employees, spouses, retired persons, college students, church members, police officers, or people from the community?
How many mentors can each of the partners and the community provide?
What kind of time commitment can the mentors make each week? Are the mentors available for a long-term commitment?
Has this organization sponsored any previous mentor programs? Who can the program call upon that has experience in mentoring, or running a mentor program?
What financial resources can be used to meet the costs involved in sponsoring a mentor program--release time for employees, transportation, materials, participation stipends, trips, or awards ceremonies and dinners?
What special resources from the partners can the program draw upon? For example, if a computer firm is a major partner, can they provide computer or e-mail facilities to the mentors and students? Can a college or university partner provide classrooms, tours of campus, or lectures by college faculty?

It is important to note that the answers to many of these questions depend largely upon the needs of the program. For example, a middle school mentoring program focused on math skills and preparation for college may look very different from a mentoring program that has the arts as a focus. The information collected from the needs assessment determines why the program is to be established, which population will be served, how many and what kind of mentors will be required, and what resources will be available from program partners and the community. Once this information has been collected, the next step is to develop concrete goals and objectives for the program.

New Technologies, New Opportunities:
The HP E-mail Mentoring Program

The HP E-mail Mentoring Program is an example of the innovative ways in which new technology can be employed by a caring organization to overcome the barriers of time and space to provide help to needy students. Created and funded by the Hewlett-Packard Company, the HP E-mail Mentoring Program strives to improve mathematics and science achievement among 5^th through 12^th grade students, increase the number of females and minorities studying and teaching mathematics and science, and ensure that all children are ready to learn when they attend school.

Working in a one-to-one telementoring relationship made possible by e-mail, students and HP employee mentors collaborate on classroom activities such as science projects and mathematics lessons, under the direction of a supervising classroom teacher. Teachers are the critical hub of the program, and apply for admission to the program on behalf of their students. Teachers must submit a lesson plan for the student and mentor to work on together (and on which the student will receive a grade), and act as the primary supervisor of the mentor-student relationship. The teacher and students must have appropriate Internet and e-mail access.

Students who are selected by their teachers to participate are directed to the HP Mentoring Program website, where they complete a student application and pre-survey. Mentors for the program are HP employees from around the world who have submitted an online mentor application to HP Mentor Program staff. Mentors are responsible for communicating with the student at least 2-3 times per week throughout the 36-week academic period. As a condition of participation, mentors agree to be a positive role model; encourage their students to excel in math and science; use appropriate grammar and effective communication skills; encourage their students to use the Internet as a resource; and correspond with the student's teacher and HP Mentor Program staff. The HP Mentor Program staff match students and mentors based on a set of specific needs, common career interests, academic studies, and hobbies. The focus of the program is that students and mentors work on solid projects that are integrated into the curriculum.

Since being founded in January of 1995, nearly 2,900 students in school districts throughout the United States, Canada, Australia, and France and 2,900 mentors throughout the world have participated in the program. (Mentors from Australia, Canada, Cyprus Republic, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States have served in the program.) Approximately one-half of the students served in the program have been non-white (approximately one-third African American, Hispanic, and Asian-Pacific Islander, each). Costs are minimal and are limited to basic administrative expenditures along with e-mail and Internet related expenditures. Teachers have indicated many positive results, including increases in student attendance; use of technology; involvement at school; self-confidence; and motivation. HP's full evaluation report can be accessed via the Internet at: http://www.telementor.org/hp/eval/eval9697.html.

Developing the Program's Goals and Objectives

For a mentoring program to be successful, it must have well-defined goals and measurable objectives. Members of the planning team should use the information from the needs assessment to set realistic program goals that reflect the purpose of the program. Once the goals are set, measurable objectives must be formulated so that the program can be evaluated.

Clear goals should be agreed upon by the school, business, or community partners participating in the program. A goal or mission statement should be written by the planning team. Although each party may have a different reason for participating in a program, all should agree on the overall purpose. Here are some examples of different program goals:

To enrich the educational experience of youth at risk of academic failure by giving them one-on-one tutoring;
To encourage students to take, and succeed in, challenging college preparatory mathematics and science courses;
To provide male children at risk of dropping out of school with male mentors who will increase the children's motivation to finish school; or
To provide encouragement to teenage mothers in order to reduce the likelihood that they may, through lack of training or experience in parenthood, abuse or neglect their children.

For each goal there should be a series of objectives. Objectives should be concrete, specific, and measurable, stating how the goal will be accomplished, including how much time is involved and how many mentors will be needed for a given number of young people. It is important that objectives be designed so that they can be met early on, in the middle, and at the end of the program. Here are some sample objectives:

After four weeks in the program, teenagers in a career education program will be able to fill out an employment application form successfully.
After seven weeks of participating in the program, male students working with male mentors will submit at least three of their five homework assignments each week.
By the end of one year, students will be prepared for and enroll in college preparatory mathematics and science classes.

By keeping goals clear and having measurable objectives, program planners can tell very early in the program whether any of the goals or objectives, or the program's practices, should be modified in order for the program to achieve success.

Putting Needs and Solutions Together:
Recruiting Young Women to the Fields of Mathematics and Science

Table 1
Percent of degrees overall and in selected fields awarded to women, 1994-1995

	BAs	MAs	PhDs
All Fields	55	55	39
Computer and information sciences	28	26	18
Engineering, engineering-related technologies	17	16	12
Physical sciences and science technologies	35	30	24

Source: Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System, Digest of Education Statistics, 1997

Addressing the underrepresentation of women in mathematics and science-related academic programs and careers (see Table 1) is a focus of many mentoring programs. With a grant from the National Science Foundation, the Education Development Center, Inc. led a three-year project called Telementoring Young Women in Science, Engineering, and Computing to build on-line communities of support among female high school students, parents, teachers, and professional women who have succeeded in science and technical fields.

Professional women in technical and scientific fields who completed a three-week on-line training course (featuring correspondence simulations and response feedback) worked directly with students as one-on-one telementors and discussion forum facilitators. Discussion Facilitators moderated group discussions around complex issues that young women face in considering their academic and career options. The project also developed a Web-site to provide access to resources and information to encourage young women to develop interests in science and technology. Last spring this three-year project was completed and a summative evaluation is being conducted to determine the program's impact. Follow-up participation surveys already indicate that students report feeling more encouraged about technical careers, improved their self-esteem, gained concrete strategies for dealing with obstacles in pursuing college and careers, and more clearly understood the requirements of being in a professional field.

The SummerMath program at Mount Holyoke College, established in 1982, encourages young women to feel confident about their mathematical abilities. The program is held on Mount Holyoke's campus for six weeks each summer, and consists of 4 1/2 hours of classroom time each day, during which tutoring, mentoring, counseling, and career, academic and college advising are provided. Approximately 100 young women entering grades 9 through 12 enroll in the program each year, and about 1,500 students have been served over the program's 15 years of existence. About half of the students are from minority groups, and students from all over the United States attend. College students are hired to serve as residential and teaching assistants, both mentoring the high school students and being mentored by the teachers with whom they work intensively. NASA and the state of Massachusetts are also partners in the program. SummerMath gauges effectiveness through follow-up questionnaires that measure participants' attitude toward math and how it may have changed because of the program.

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[Some Questions and Answers About Mentoring Programs]

[Guidelines for Mentoring Programs (part 2 of 3)]