Mentoring

Mentoring, the pairing of an experienced person with a less-experienced person, is a long-standing strategy for personal development. Contemporary mentoring programs match vulnerable young people with caring adults to build positive behavioral, social, and academic performance outcomes. Mentoring currently enjoys significant attention and support, which has yielded new research on the efficacy of this intervention strategy, as well as best practices. While current evaluations demonstrate modest effects, the research has identified critical practices across the various program models that contribute to more consistent results. To the right are a number of organizations and Web site resources to assist with developing and managing effective school-based and community-based mentoring programs. These resources include information on both developing and managing mentoring programs.