Michael J. Karcher

The Study of Mentoring in the Learning Environment (SMILE): A Randomized Evaluation of the Effectiveness of School-based Mentoring

The effect of providing youth school-based mentoring (SBM), in addition to other school-based support services, was examined with a sample of 516 predominately Latino students across 19 schools. Participants in a multi-component, school-based intervention program run by a youth development agency were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: (1) supportive services alone or (2) supportive services plus SBM. Compared to community-based mentoring, the duration of the SBM was brief (averaging eight meetings), partly because the agency experienced barriers to retaining mentors. Intent-to-treat (ITT) main effects of SBM were tested using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) and revealed small, positive main effects of mentoring on self-reported connectedness to peers, self-esteem (global and present-oriented), and social support from friends, but not on several other measures, including grades and social skills. Three-way cross-level interactions of sex and school level (elementary, middle, and high school) revealed that elementary school boys and high school girls benefited the most from mentoring. Among elementary school boys, those in the mentoring condition reported higher social skills (empathy and cooperation), hopefulness, and connectedness both to school and to culturally different peers. Among high school girls, those mentored reported greater connectedness to culturally different peers, self-esteem, and support from friends. Findings suggest no or iatrogenic effects of mentoring for older boys and younger girls. Therefore, practitioners coordinating multi-component programs that include SBM would be wise to provide mentors to the youth most likely to benefit from SBM and bolster program practices that help to support and retain mentors.

Developmental Mentoring Match Characteristics: Correspondence between Mentors' and Mentees' Assessments of Relationship Quality

Understanding the factors that contribute to high-quality mentoring relationships is critical to developing and sustaining effective mentoring programs. In study 1, sixty-three adolescent mentors, from two high schools, were surveyed four to six weeks after being matched with elementary-age mentees. Hierarchical regression models revealed that mentees’ academic and behavioral risk status, parental involvement, and program quality all explained variance in mentor-perceived relationship quality, but none remained significant predictors after mentors’ self-efficacy, motivations for self-enhancement, and assessments of their mentees’ support seeking behaviors were accounted for. Study 2 cross-validates the regression model in study 1 and examines the concurrent validity and predictive validity of a measure of mentoring match characteristics using mid-year and end-of-year assessments from mentees and mentors.Editors’ Strategic Implications: The focus on mentors’ initial impressions of their mentees and the relationship represents a novel contribution to the study of relationship formation and persistence. The authors provide a promising strategy – and descriptions of specific measures – to help programs study relationships that endure or terminate. Coordinators will benefit from the knowledge that if mentors feel efficacious and if the mentoring relationship is strong, mentors are more likely to persist.

Youth mentoring with a balanced focus, shared purpose, and collaborative interactions.

This opening article defines the ways in which three mentoring interaction elements--focus, purpose, and authorship--distinguish between effective and ineffective mentoring relationship styles. The framework described can help mentors better understand the difference between prescriptive and instrumental styles and differentiate laissez-faire from developmental mentoring. It also reveals unique ways for program staff to develop training materials and for researchers to better study mentoring activities. The authors suggest that being able to articulate the importance of focus, purpose, and authorship is critical for shaping program practices, designing relevant research, and guiding program evaluations.

Correctional counselor burnout: Examining burnout rates using the Counselor Burnout Inventory

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to determine the appropriateness of using the Counselor Burnout Inventory (CBI) with correctional counselors and to explore burnout rates as they relate to gender and the type of prison they work in (i.e., minimum security, medium security, maximum security, and inpatient). A total of 92 responses on the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey and the CBI were obtained, with 86 fully completed surveys by correctional counselors. Results suggest that the CBI is an effective measure with correctional counselors and that gender and type of prison were not statistically significant in predicting burnout rates.