Mentoring in School Settings
Since 2007 there have been three large scale, multi-site, randomized trials of school-based mentoring programs looking at the effects of mentoring over one school year. The results from these studies have impacted policy and practice, and even the bottom line of federal funding, but do we really know what they are telling us?
In 2007 and 2009 the Summer Institute featured in-depth discussions of mentoring in school-based settings. Summer Institute Participant Marc Wheeler attended the 2007 Summer Institute when he was the Executive Director of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southeast Alaska and caught the research bug. Marc successfully applied to become a WT Grant Distinguished Fellow. The WT Grant Fellowship is a prestigious award that enabled Marc to spend 6 months in residence at PSU under the mentorship of SIYM director Thomas Keller. Along with mentoring researcher David Dubois of the University of Illinois-Chicago they have distilled the key findings of research on school-based mentoring for practitioners and policy makers in a series of reports, journal articles and press conferences.
Social Policy Report Brief--School-Based Mentoring: Weighing Future Investments (2010). >>download
Wheeler, M.E., Keller, T.E., & Dubois, D.L., (2010). Review of three recent randomized trials of school-based mentoring. Social Policy Report, 24(3). Available for download from the Society for Research on Child Development, >>download
Wheeler, M.E., Dubois, D.L., Keller, T.E. (2010). Detailed summary of meta-analysis performed for review of three recent randomized trials of school-based mentoring: Making sense of mixed findings >>download
Additional Publications from the 2007 Summer Institute
Participant Sarah Kremer, of Friends for Youth Mentoring Institute, captured her impressions of the 2007 Summer Institute in words and drawings for her organization's newsletter. >> Download
Research Fellow Michael Karcher wrote a book review that appeared in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence. The book review has multiple references to the discussions between researchers and practitioners during the Summer Institute. Gil E. Clary and Jean E. Rhodes (Eds), Mobilizing Adults for Positive Youth Development: Strategies for Closing the Gap between Beliefs and Behaviors. >> Download
Institute Director Thomas Keller wrote a contribution to MENTOR's Research in Action series. The article addresses issues relating to program staff in youth mentoring programs. >> Download
Research Fellows Michael Karcher and Carla Herrera collaborated on a piece for MENTOR's Research in Action Series. The article reviews research on school-based mentoring. >> Download
2007 Research Fellows
Thomas Keller, Ph.D.
The Duncan and Cindy Campbell Professor for Children, Youth, and Families with an Emphasis on Mentoring in the School of Social Work at Portland State University. Professor Keller is the Director of the Summer Institute. He studies the development and influence of mentoring relationships in school and community settings and the role of parent involvement in mentoring interventions. Prior to earning his Ph.D., he worked for several years with a Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliate in Seattle as a caseworker, supervisor, and program director.
Timothy Cavell, Ph.D.
Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at University of Arkansas. Professor Cavell’s research focuses on school-based programs in which adult mentors work with aggressive children at risk for later delinquency and substance abuse. He has researched a school-based mentoring model to serve bullied children. In addition to numerous academic articles and chapters, Professor Cavell is the author of Working with the parents of aggressive children: A practitioner’s guide, published by the American Psychological Association.
Carla Herrera, Ph.D.
Senior Researcher for Public/Private Ventures, a national non-profit research and policy organization. Dr. Herrera has conducted numerous studies and written influential reports on various types of mentoring programs. She is the Principal Investigator of the first national, multi-site, randomized control design evaluation of school-based mentoring programs. She also is writing a book on school-based mentoring with Michael Karcher.
Michael Karcher, Ph.D., Ed.D.
Associate Professor in the College of Education and Human Development at University of Texas-San Antonio. Professor Karcher is an expert on cross-age peer mentoring in schools, and he currently is conducting a major study funded by the W.T. Grant Foundation entitled “Effective interactions with Hispanic youth in school-based mentoring.” Professor Karcher is the author of numerous articles on mentoring in school settings, and he is co-editor of the landmark Handbook of Youth Mentoring.
Renee Spencer, Ed.D.
Assistant Professor in the Boston University School of Social Work. Professor Spencer has conducted influential studies on the nature and course of successful and unsuccessful mentoring relationships. As the recipient of a prestigious W.T. Grant Foundation Scholar Award, she is the Principal Investigator of a major study entitled “Understanding the mentoring process: A longitudinal study of mentoring relationships between adolescents and adults.”
2007 Research Guest Speaker
Julia Pryce, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago. Professor Pryce has investigated relationships formed in school-based mentoring programs and has participated in the development and evaluation of the GirlPOWER! Mentoring Program promoting healthy behaviors among early adolescent females. She received the 2007 Dissertation Award from the International Mentoring Association.
