Information About
Student Mentoring
By Barry Sweeny
INDEX TO THIS PAGE:
Some
Advice About Student Mentoring There
are two ways to improve student learning:
1. REMEDIATION: Through working directly with students to address
and remediate their needs.
2. PREVENTION: Through working with teachers to develop their
capacity to better support and teach students, and thereby, to
prevent the need for remediation.
It is the position of the author of this web site that both are
needed, but this author chooses to focus his work on prevention.
This web site also focuses on new teachers because the author believes
that mentoring relationships and processes incorporate great teaching.
If new teachers mature in a "culture of mentoring" then
their teaching will naturally incorporate the norms of mentoring.
Mentoring Works for Both: In addition
to mentoring of new teachers as a form of prevention of poor student
learning, the direct mentoring of students is also a powerful tool
for improving the learning for all students. Whether used for remediation,
as in mentoring of at-risk students, or when used for acceleration
and enrichment, as in mentoring of the gifted, mentoring is the
most powerful learning method known! After all, mentoring is one-to-one
teaching. Although not the primary thrust of this web site, student
mentoring, such as for gifted or at-risk students, is a huge area
of interest, and there is lots of activity and writing going on
around this topic.
Here are a few sources on information to help you get started if you
are interested in the mentoring of students. All I ask is that you
use BOTH approaches to support student learning and don't just focus
on remediation. Thanks:
BOOKS
AND ARTICLES ON STUDENT MENTORING
(1) Improving Teacher Preparation Through Formalized
Mentoring, By Wm. and Marilynne
Gray, (1987). International Journal of Mentoring. Vol. 1, #2. published
by Wm. Gray and his wife.
Bill used to operate the "International Center for Mentoring"
in Vancouver, B.C. Canada. Although most of his work was with
schools at the start, he focused on business (where the money
is) in later years. As of May 1997 his phone number is disconnected
so I don't know if he is still active in mentoring.
These folks are very knowledgeable about student and teacher mentoring.
This article is a description of how Wm. Gray taught mentoring
skills to his teacher education students at the University of
British Columbia. His research found a huge impact in the resulting
teaching of students for those who were both:
(1) mentored during their training and
(2) specifically taught mentoring skills to be used with their
students when they taught.
This program began in 1979 and the article reporting the results
is from 1987. It's very good!
(2) How to Start a Student Mentoring Program,
by Susan Weinberger, (1992) Phi Delta Kappa Fastback #333, Phi Delta
Kappa, Educational Foundation, Bloomington, Indiana. This booklet
explains the necessary steps to starting and sustaining a student
mentoring program using as an example, the Norwalk Conn. School's
program which the author directs. Includes all the basics, such as
recruitment, screening, training, matching, responsibilities, evaluation,
parent letters, mentor evaluation forms, & celebrations.
(3) Beginning a Mentoring Program, by Michael Newman.
The Community & Human resources Dev. Division of the Minnesota
dept. of Human Resources, 444 Lafayette Road, St. Paul, MN 55155-3821.
(4) Connections: Linking Youth with Caring Adults,
Urban Strategies Council, Thorton House, 672 13th St. Oakland, CA
94621.
(5) Coordinator's Guide to Oregon
Community Mentorship Program, Student Retention initiative,
Business.education Partnerships, 530 Center St. NE, Suite 300, Portland,
Or 97310
(6) The Mentor Handbook: A Guide
for Adult Volunteers and Sponsoring Companies, by S. Weinberger
(author of "How to Start" above), produced for the Norwalk
Schools Student Mentoring Program, from Educational resources Network,
18 Marshall St. South Norwalk, CT 06854.
(7)
One-On-One: A Guide for Establishing Mentoring Programs, U.S.
Dept of Education, 400 Maryland Ave, SW, Washington, DC 20202
(8) A Youth Mentoring Program Directory,
United Way of America, 701 N. Fairfax St. Alexandria, VA 22314.
(9) Youth Mentoring: Programs and Practices,
by E. Flaxman, et.al., ERIC Clearinghouse on Urban Education, PO Box
40, Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY 10021-2692
(10) Challenging the Gifted & Talented Through
Mentor-Assisted Enrichment Projects, by Wm. Gray, (1983) Phi
Delta Kappa Fastback #189, Phi Delta Kappa, Educational Foundation,
Bloomington, Indiana. This booklet is by the same author as listed
in # 1 above and includes use of preservice teacher education students
as mentors, designing & implementing gifted enrichment projects
with mentors, lessons learned from the projects, and benefits of the
program.
(11) Teachers and Mentors:,
in The Gifted and Talented: Their Education and Development,
(1979). Ed. Passow, pp. 272-288. Chicago, IL. University of Chicago
Press.
Links
to Web Sites on Student Mentoring
OTHER
STUDENT MENTORING PROGRAMS:
The following are additional examples for which I do not have
contact information. Sorry.
- Big Brothers/Big Sisters, has been at work for about 93 years
mentoring youth.
- Coweta County Georgia has mentoring program that links Georgia
State Patrol officers and local clergy with K-12 students.
- IBM in Nashville, Tennessee has a corporate mentoring program
to link its employees to students with special needs.
- Castlemont High School in Oakland California links alumni mentors
with their students to promote career development.
- Mentors, Inc. is a Washington DC group that recruits mentors
from law firms, universities and corporations to establish a 3
year relationship with students.
- Project RAISE (Raising Ambition Instills Self-Esteem) is a Baltimore
group that includes sponsors from banks, churches, businesses,
etc. Each mentor adopts a sixth grader and mentors them through
high school graduation.
- Black Male Youth Enhancement Program is an effort of the Shiloh
Baptist Church in Washington, DC that provides daily after school
contact and assistance with a mentor/role model for boys aged
9-16.
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