How effective are school-based mentoring on important student outcomes?
October 15, 2019Risks and rewards of school-based mentoring relationships: A reanalysis of the student mentoring program evaluation. School-based mentoring programs are a widely funded intervention adopted as a means to positively impact student conduct and achievement. Despite widespread support, meta-analyses indicate that the effects of school-based mentoring programs are small. The authors hypothesize that the poor outcomes found in previous research happen because mentors do not develop high-quality relationships with the student mentees. To examine this issue, the authors reanalyzed a large randomized trial on this topic. The study concludes that a high-quality relationship has its benefits, but the effect size on academic and behavioral outcomes was near zero and confirmed the original findings. These results suggest that schools proceed cautiously before adopting school-based mentoring programs.
Citation: Lyons, M. D., & McQuillin, S. D. (2018). Risks and rewards of school-based mentoring relationships: A reanalysis of the student mentoring program evaluation. School Psychology Quarterly