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The Effects of Developmental Mentoring on Connectedness and Academic Achievement

NCJ Number
253675
Journal
School Community Journal Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Dated: 2002 Pages: 35-50
Author(s)
Michael J. Karcher; Claytie Davis III; Brad Powell
Date Published
2002
Length
16 pages
Annotation

This article reports on a 1-year longitudinal study of developmental mentoring, a school-based intervention that enlists high school students as mentors to elementary school students.

Abstract

Concerns about adolescent risk-taking and school underachievement remain high. Such problems are increasingly viewed as products of students' disconnectedness from school, teachers, peers, and parents. One response to this crisis of disconnection is to develop programs that promote youths' sense of belonging and keep them connected during periods of transition. The findings from this study suggest that the developmental mentoring program promoted conventional connectedness to parents, school, and the future, and that program effects on spelling achievement scores were mediated by maintenance of parental connectedness into middle school. Implications for school programs to involve families in promoting connectedness and achievement in schools are discussed. (publisher abstract modified)