The impact of mentoring on academic achievement of at-risk youth

Planned mentoring programs have flourished as one possible solution to the problems affecting youth. Unfortunately, little research has been conducted evaluating mentoring programs in spite of the generally accepted belief that only positive effects can result from their implementation. The present study examined the impact of mentoring on the academic achievement of at-risk youth involved in Big Brothers/Big Sisters. Academic achievement tests were individually administered to 12 boys in the treatment group (i.e., had a mentor) and 13 boys in a control group (i.e., were on a waiting list to receive a mentor) pre- and post-test over a nine month period. Results indicated that boys in the treatment group made significantly higher academic gains than the control group, even after controlling for ability. Implications of these results are discussed.