Mentoring and Academic Outcomes
– (excerpts from Chronicle of Evidence-Based Mentoring summary of study, by Bridget Nestor)
“For financially strapped school districts, school-based mentoring has the potential to provide a cost-effective way to assist and support struggling students.”
“Relationship closeness trumped both match status and match length as predictors of academic outcomes.”
“Only relationships which mentees rated as ‘somewhat close’ or ‘very close’ showed positive impacts on academic outcomes.”
“It was the relationship closeness, not a focus on academics, which led to greater academic outcomes in mentees.”
“This means that volunteers need not be trained with a rigorous academic background, and that mentors might prove as beneficial as tutors to struggling students.
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This year, 95% of Grand Area Mentoring students rated their relationship as close or very close.
