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From: Akeel Zaheer <azaheer@famlit.org>
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Subject: [NIFL-FAMILY:1800] X-Post- EDINFO: Mentoring
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The following is a cross-post from EDINFO regarding how to establish
mentoring programs. The summary below includes descriptions from various
mentoring programs as well as an outline of the National Mentoring
Partnership's Elements of a Responsible Mentoring Program.
Akeel H. Zaheer
NIFL-Family Listserv Moderator
National Center for Family Literacy
Email: azaheer@famlit.org
x----xx---------x-----------x-------------x--------------x----------------x-
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"YES, YOU CAN: A Guide for Establishing Mentoring Programs to
Prepare Youth for College" offers practical information that
employers, college students, senior citizens, community-based
organizations, & others can use to create & run mentoring
programs.
The 55-page booklet, which was released last month, includes tips &
suggestions on...
program planning, assessing needs & potential resources,
developing program goals & objectives, recruiting &
selecting mentors, training mentors & matching them
with students, working with parents, keeping mentors in
the program, evaluating the program, & more.
It also provides...
* profiles of 11 mentoring programs
* a checklist for mentoring programs
* a list of national organizations involved in mentoring.
The guide supports 3 Department initiatives: "America
Counts," which aims to help all students master the
fundamentals of algebra & geometry by the 8th grade; "GEAR
UP," which is designed to encourage more young people to
have high expectations, stay in school, study hard, & go to
college; and "Think College," which provides information on
educational opportunities beyond high school for learners of
all ages:
http://www.ed.gov/inits/Math/acc/
http://www.ed.gov/inits/FY99/1-gearup.html
http://www.ed.gov/thinkcollege/
The complete guide can be found online at:
http://www.ed.gov/pubs/YesYouCan/
Below are excerpts from 2 profiles, plus "elements of a
responsible mentoring program."
=====================================================
Excerpts from "Yes, You Can: A Guide for Establishing
Mentoring Programs to Prepare Youth for College."
U.S. Department of Education (October 1998)
=====================================================
The Fulfillment Fund
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For two decades the Fulfillment Fund, a privately funded,
nonprofit organization, has provided assistance to
economically disadvantaged youth in Los Angeles to help them
complete middle school & high school & pursue higher
education. Through a variety of programs, including the
Mentor Program & the College Pathways Project, the Fulfillment
Fund now serves over 1,500 students annually. In 1998, the
Fulfillment Fund was named the number one mentoring program in
the state of California by the California Mentor Initiative.
In the Mentor Program, the Fund identifies students who
demonstrate the potential to attend college but are unlikely
to do so on their own. These students often come from
families in which no other member has attended college. The
program matches students with an adult mentor who agrees to
meet with the student six to twelve hours per month & talk
weekly by phone from the time the student is in eighth grade
through high school graduation. Mentors are successful adults
who are carefully screened by Fulfillment Fund staff, & attend
a two-day training session where experienced mentors & current
students help the new mentors learn to bridge cultural
differences, understand adolescent development, build
communication skills, & understand the program's goals &
policies. New mentors also receive instruction about when it
is necessary to refer problems to social service agencies.
Throughout its duration, Fund case managers closely monitor
the relationship. Approximately 450 mentor-student teams are
currently in the Mentor Program.
Individualized college preparation plans are developed for each
Mentor Program student under the direction of a professional
college counselor, & each year the mentor-student pair may
attend up to three college site visits that have been arranged
by the program. Students also receive a wide variety of
college information & take classes to help them prepare for
college entrance exams. Additionally, Mentor Program students
may participate in the Fund's Drug Education, Community Service
& study skills training programs.
The program also requires parental permission & involvement, &
over the course of the year the Fund sponsors events for
parents & their children, including sessions on financial aid,
the college admission process & the transition to college.
Most of the program's oral & written information for parents
is available in both English & Spanish.
The Fulfillment Fund is also the largest private donor of
scholarships to graduating high school students in the greater
Los Angeles area, & provides all graduating students in the
Mentor Program with a guaranteed scholarship for up to five
years of college or vocational school. However, Fulfillment
Fund students are told that the Fund does not give charity, &
each student promises over the subsequent twenty years to repay
the Fund by serving as a mentor for at least three young people
in their communities. The Fulfillment Fund indicates that 86
percent of the students who start the program in the eighth
grade finish the five-year program & graduate from high school,
compared to only 63.5 percent of their fellow students in the
L.A. Unified School District. Over 90 percent of the Fund's
high school graduates go on to college, compared to
approximately 63 percent of their fellow students.
The HP E-mail Mentoring Program
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The HP E-mail Mentoring Program, created & funded by the
Hewlett-Packard Company, strives to improve mathematics &
science achievement among 5th through 12th grade students,
increase the number of females & minorities studying &
teaching mathematics & science, & ensure that all children are
ready to learn when they attend school.
Working in a one-to-one telementoring relationship made
possible by e-mail, students & HP employee mentors collaborate
on classroom activities such as science projects & mathematics
lessons, under the direction of a supervising classroom
teacher. Teachers apply for admission to the program on
behalf of their students. Teachers must submit a lesson plan
for the student & mentor to work on together (& on which the
student will receive a grade), & act as the primary supervisor
of the mentor-student relationship. The teacher & students
must have appropriate Internet & e-mail access.
Students who are selected by their teachers to participate are
directed to the HP Mentoring Program website, where they
complete a student application & pre-survey. Mentors for the
program are HP employees from around the world who have
submitted an online mentor application to HP Mentor Program
staff. Mentors are responsible for communicating with the
student at least 2-3 times per week throughout the 36-week
academic period. As a condition of participation, mentors
agree to be a positive role model; encourage their students to
excel in math & science; use appropriate grammar & effective
communication skills; encourage their students to use the
Internet as a resource; & correspond with the student's
teacher & HP Mentor Program staff. The HP Mentor Program
staff match students & mentors based on a set of specific
needs, common career interests, academic studies, & hobbies.
The focus of the program is that students & mentors work on
solid projects that are integrated into the curriculum.
Since being founded in January of 1995, nearly 2,900 students
in school districts throughout the U.S., Canada, Australia, &
France & 2,900 mentors throughout the world have participated.
... HP's full evaluation report can be accessed via the
Internet at:
http://www.telementor.org/hp/eval/eval9697.html
The National Mentoring Partnership's
Elements of a Responsible Mentoring Program
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The National Mentoring Partnership serves as an advocate for
the expansion of mentoring & a clearinghouse for information
for mentors nationwide. As part of its mission to increase
the availability of responsible mentoring for youth, the
Partnership has compiled information on effective practices in
mentoring programs, including the "nuts & bolts" checklist
which appears in the Resources section of this book, & the
components of a responsible mentoring program below. More
information is available by contacting the Partnership or by
visiting its website: http://www.mentoring.org/
According to the National Mentoring Partnership, a responsible
mentoring program requires:
* A well-defined mission & established operating
principles.
* Regular, consistent contact between the mentor & the
participant.
* Support by the family or guardian of the participant.
* Additional community support services.
* An established organization of oversight.
* Adherence to general principles of volunteerism.
* Paid or volunteer staff with appropriate skills.
* Written job descriptions for all staff & volunteer
positions.
* Adherence to Equal Employment Opportunities requirements.
* Inclusiveness of racial, economic & gender representation
as appropriate to the program.
* Adequate financial & in-kind resources.
* Written administrative & program procedures.
* Written eligibility requirements for program
participants.
* Program evaluation & ongoing assessment.
* A long-range plan that has community input.
* Risk management & confidentiality policies.
* Use of generally accepted accounting practices.
* A prudent & reasonable rationale for staffing
requirements that are based on:
-- organization's statement of purpose & goals,
-- needs of mentors & participants,
-- community resources, and
-- staff & other volunteers' skill level.
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Andrew Lauland, Peter Kickbush, & Kirk Winters
U.S. Department of Education
kirk_winters@ed.gov
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