The Perceptions of Mentors on the Impact of a School-Based Mentoring Program in a Diverse Public-School Division in Virginia
The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of mentors regarding the impact of a school-based mentoring program and to identify which research-based best practices were used to achieve these impacts. School accountability measures have brought many changes to education. Since the implementation of No Child Left Behind there has been focused attention on student performance on standardized state testing. To ensure that every student met grade level content standards, schools have implemented collaborative planning through professional learning communities to improve instructional practices, regular meetings to track student performance data, and an increased focus on teacher and school leader evaluations to name a few. Despite the positive impacts of all these efforts, there are still gaps in the academic performance levels of identified student reporting groups. To eliminate these achievement gaps, many school leaders are implementing school-based mentoring programs to help meet the socio-emotional needs of their students. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was used for this study. The researcher gathered quantitative data from a survey developed in a previous study which sought to "unpack how mentoring has its documented, beneficial effects and to refine understanding of best practice" (Tolan, McDaniel, Richardson, Arkin, Augenstern, and Dubois, 2020, p. 2104). The survey was used to identify the practices used by a school-based mentoring program. These survey data were supported by qualitative data collected during semi-structured recorded interviews. The interviews were used to discover the perceptions of the mentors on the impacts of the mentoring program as well as the practices used by the program. The two types of data were used to compare the findings from one another. The findings of this study demonstrated the mentor's fierce belief in the effectiveness of the program. The mentor's shared that they help students develop the ability to advocate for themselves. This finding contrasted with the existing research which discussed mentor's advocating for the mentee. The mentor's felt one of the impacts was helping student to identify and manage the emotions they dealt with in their daily lives. Finally, the mentor's shared that the mentoring program helped students develop prosocial behaviors such as empathy, social problem solving, and cooperation. ; Doctor of Education ; School leaders are dedicated professionals who work tirelessly to ensure that teachers are prepared to meet the needs of every student. Over the last twenty years there has been renewed attention on school accountability measures from both the state and federal governments. Despite these well-intentioned efforts and the incredible efforts of school leaders there remains significant gaps in the performance of students from the identified reporting groups; such as racial categories, students from low-income households, students with disabilities, and English Language learners. School leaders continue to search for additional resources to help meet the needs of these students. These efforts have led many school leaders to implement school-based mentoring programs. This mixed-methods study sought to identify the perceptions of mentors on the impacts of a school-based mentoring program, as well as which practices were used to achieve these impacts, in a diverse school division in central Virginia. Quantitative data was collected through a survey which sought to determine the practices used by the school-based mentoring program and whether they aligned with the research-based best practice identified in a study by Tolan et al. (2020). Qualitative data was gathered through semi-structured interviews to uncover the perceptions of the mentors on the impacts of the program and to confirm the use of research-based best practices. These two data sets were compared to confirm the findings. The study found that the school-based mentoring program taught students to effectively advocate for themselves. This contrasted with the research-based best practices identified by Tolan et al. (2020) which called for mentors to advocate for students. A second finding was that one of the impacts identified by mentors was that the mentoring program helped students develop empathy, social problem-solving skills, and cooperation. The third finding was that the mentors taught students to identify, name, and then develop the skills necessary to manage the emotions students were struggling with in their lives. Mentors perceived that these skills built upon one another leading students to develop healthy relationships with both peers and school personnel, ultimately leading to increased academic engagement and performance.
