Date of Award

4-1-1999

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Specialist in Education (Ed.S.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Dr. Lisa Kelly-Vance

Abstract

Since the late 1980's, planned mentoring programs have flourished as one possible solution to the problems affecting youth. Little research has been conducted evaluating mentoring programs in spite of the generally accepted belief that only positive effects can result from planned mentoring. This study examined the impact of mentoring on the academic achievement of at risk youth involved in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of the Midlands’ program. Individual academic achievement tests were administered to 12 boys in the treatment group (i.e., had a mentor) and 13 boys in the control group (i.e., on a waiting list to receive a mentor) over a nine month period. Subjects were also given an individually administered intelligence test to control for cognitive ability. Results indicated that boys in the treatment group did significantly better on the achievement test than boys in the control group. Specifically, they had higher composite scores, reading scores, and math scores. These results indicated that having a mentor may contribute to academic achievement success. Implications of the results are discussed.

Comments

An Ed.S. Project Presented to the Department of Psychology and the Faculty of the Graduate College University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Specialist in Education University of Nebraska at Omaha. Copyright Lynn A. Thompson April, 1999

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