Using Volunteer Mentors to Improve the Academic Outcomes of Underserved Students: The Role of Relationships

Bayer, Amanda and Grossman, Jean and DuBois, David (2015): Using Volunteer Mentors to Improve the Academic Outcomes of Underserved Students: The Role of Relationships. Published in: Journal of Community Psychology , Vol. 4, No. 43 (April 2015): pp. 408-429.

Abstract

Schools can benefit from understanding how to use community volunteers to achieve academic goals. A randomized control evaluation, involving 1139 students from 71 schools, of the school-based mentoring program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America found modest but statistically significant improvements in the teacher-rated academic performance and self-reported scholastic efficacy of mentored students. The present study explores the causal mechanism behind these effects. We find that a close relationship between mentor and protégé appears key to better academic outcomes. Because relationship closeness is not randomly assigned, we use two-stage least squares and other methods to control for potential selection bias. The role of emotional closeness as a mediator of program effects is evident across mentoring relationships of various lengths and statuses. Students were more likely to feel close to their mentors in programs that included weekly meetings and opportunities for mentor-protégé pairs to interact outside of a large-group setting.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: School-Based Mentoring, Relationships, Academic, Volunteers
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I20 - General; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I2 - Education and Research Institutions > I24 - Education and Inequality; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J13 - Fertility ; Family Planning ; Child Care ; Children ; Youth

References

Angrist, J. D. (1991). Grouped-data estimation and testing in simple labor-supply models. Journal of Econometrics, 47, 243-66.

Angrist, J. D., Imbens, G. W., & Rubin, D. B. (1996). Identification of causal effects using instrumental variables. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 91, 444-455.

Benjamini, Y., & Hochberg, Y. (1995). Controlling for the false discovery rate: A practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B, 57, 289-300.

Bernstein, L., Dun Rappaport, C., Olsho, L., Hunt, D., & Levin, M. (2009). Impact evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education’s Student Mentoring Program (NCEE 2009-4047). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

Bloom, H. (1984). Accounting for no-shows in experimental evaluation designs. Evaluation Review, 8, 225-246.

Cavell, T. A., & Elledge, L.C. (2014). Mentoring and prevention science. In D.L. DuBois & M.J. Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (2nd ed., pp. 29-42). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

DuBois, D. L., & Karcher, M. J. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of youth mentoring (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

DuBois, D. L., & Neville, H. A. (1997). Youth mentoring: Investigation of relationship characteristics and perceived benefits. Journal of Community Psychology, 25, 227-234.

DuBois, D. L., Portillo, N., Rhodes, J. E., Silverthorn, N., & Valentine, J. C. (2011). How effective are mentoring programs for youth? A systematic assessment of the evidence. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 12, 57–91.

Ferguson, R. F., & Snipes, J. (1994). Outcomes of mentoring: Healthy identities for youth. Reclaiming Children and Youth, 3, 19-22.

Grossman, J. B., Chan, C. S., Schwartz, S. E., & Rhodes, J. E. (2012). The test of time in school-based mentoring: The role of relationship duration and re-matching on academic outcomes. American Journal of Community Psychology, 49, 43-54.

Grossman, J. B., & Rhodes, J. E. (2002). The test of time: Predictors and effects of duration in youth mentoring relationships. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 199-219.

Harter, S. (1985). Manual for the Self Perception Profile for Children. Denver, CO: University of Denver.

Harter, S. (1990). Identity and self development. In S. Feldman 
and G. Elliott (Eds.), At the Threshold: The Developing Adolescent. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Hausman, J. A. (1978). Specification tests in econometrics. Econometrica, 46, 1251-1271.

Herrera, C. (2004). School-based mentoring: A closer look. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures.

Herrera, C., DuBois, D. L., & Grossman, J. B. (2013). The role of risk: Mentoring experiences and outcomes for youth with varying risk profiles. New York, NY: Public/Private Ventures and MDRC.

Herrera, C., Grossman, J. B., Kauh, T. J., Feldman, A. F., & McMaken, J. (2007). Making a difference in schools: The Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring impact study. Philadelphia, PA: Public/Private Ventures.

Herrera, C., Grossman, J. B., Kauh, T. J., & McMaken, J. (2011). Mentoring in schools: An impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters school-based mentoring. Child Development, 82, 346-361.

Imbens, G., & Angrist, J. (1994). Identification and estimation of local average treatment effects. Econometrica, 62, 467-75.

Institute of Education Sciences. (2011). WWC Procedures and Standards Handbook (Version 2.1). Washington, DC: Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

Karcher, M. J. (2003). The Hemingway: Measure of adolescent connectedness. Retrieved June 25, 2013, from http://www.adolescentconnectedness.com

Krueger, A. B. (1999). Experimental estimates of education production functions. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114, 497-532.

Lauer, P. A., Akiba, M., Wilkerson, S. B., Apthorp, H. S., Snow, D., & Martin-Glenn, M. L. (2006). Out-of-school-time programs: A meta-analysis of effects for at-risk students. Review of Educational Research, 76, 275-313.

Maldonado-Carreno, C., & Votruba-Drzal, E. (2011). Teacher-child relationships and the development of academic and behavioral skills during elementary school: A within- and between-child analysis. Child Development, 82, 601-616.

MENTOR. (2006). Mentoring in America 2005: A snapshot of the current state of mentoring. Retrieved from http://www.mentoring.org/downloads/mentoring_333.pdf.

Parra, G. R., DuBois, D. L., Neville, H. A., Pugh-Lilly, A. O., & Povinelli, N. (2002). Mentoring relationships for youth: Investigation of a process-oriented model. Journal of Community Psychology, 30, 367-388.

Pierce K. M., Bolt D. M., & Vandell D. (2010). Specific features of after-school program quality: Associations with children’s functioning in middle childhood. American Journal of Community Psychology, 45, 381–393.

Pierce, K. M., Hamm, J. V., & Vandell, D. L. (1999). Experiences in after-school programs and children’s adjustment in first-grade classrooms. Child Development, 70, 756-767.

Pryce, J., & Keller, T. E. (2012). An investigation of volunteer-student relationship trajectories within school-based youth mentoring programs. Journal of Community Psychology, 40, 228-248.

Rhodes, J. E. (2005). A model of youth mentoring. In D.L. DuBois, & M.J. Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of youth mentoring (pp. 30-43). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Schwartz, S., Rhodes, J., Chan, C. & Herrera, C. (2011). The impact of school-based mentoring on youth with different relational profiles. Developmental Psychology, 47, 450-462.

Schwartz, S., Rhodes, J., & Herrera, C. (2012). The influence of meeting time on academic outcomes in school-based mentoring. Children and Youth Services Review, 34, 2319-2326.

Thomson, N. R., & Zand, D. H. (2010). Mentees’ perceptions of their interpersonal relationships: the role of the mentor-youth bond. Youth & Society, 41, 434-445.

Wheeler, M. E., Keller, T. E., & DuBois, D. L. (2010). Review of three recent randomized trials of school-based mentoring: Making sense of mixed findings. SRCD Social Policy Report, 24.

Zand, D., Thomson, N. R., Cervantes, R., Espiritu, R., Klagholz, D., LaBlanc, L., & Taylor, A. (2009). The mentor-youth alliance: the role of mentoring relationships in promoting youth competence. Journal of Adolescence, 32, 1-17.