Making Mentoring Work

The effectiveness of any mentoring program depends largely on individual circumstances: student needs and interest, parental and administrative support, and the amount of time and effort put into planning and supervising the program. To maximize your chances for success, take into consideration the following list of "best practices" identified by researchers and mentoring program staff:

• Give yourself ample time to organize and put the program together. It may take a while to build a large group of committed and reliable mentors (McPartland & Nettles, 1991).

• Plan for the program to last at least one full school year. If possible mentors and mentees should meet for an hour or more each week that school is in session (Crockett & Smink, 1991; Freedman & Baker, 1995).

• Ensure that there are enough resources available to fully staff the mentoring program. If at all possible, avoid relying on volunteers to run the program (Freedman, 1993).

• Avoid making students feel they are being chosen for the program because there is something wrong with them or because they are "problem" students (Crockett & Smink, 1991). The mentoring program should always be referred to positively, as an opportunity for students to try new things and learn new skills (Pringle et al., 1993).

• Be clear with both students and parents about why the student was selected to participate in the program and what the program aims to achieve. Parents unfamiliar with the mentoring program may assume their child is being assigned a mentor because the school views them as inadequate parents (NYSMP, 1991).

• Plan ways for students to provide their input and ideas into program activities, goals, and structure.

• Make sure that goals for the program, the student, and the mentoring relationship are clear and within reach (Crockett & Smink, 1991; McPartland & Nettles, 1991). Giving students a series of short-term goals to work toward is a good way to instill confidence and keep mentors and mentees focused and enthusiastic (NYSMP, 1991).

• Encourage mentors to relate to their mentees as a friend, not as a "teacher or preacher" (Grossman & Garry, 1997). The most successful mentoring relationships are those in which the mentor focuses primarily on developing trust and friendship with his or her mentee (Sipe, 1996).

• Don’t underestimate the difficulty of building successful mentoring relationships. Inexperienced mentors may need a great deal of supervision and support (Freedman & Baker, 1995).

• And finally, avoid creating extra work for teachers. Mentoring programs should not place an additional burden on teachers or other school staff (Crockett & Smink, 1991; Pringle et al., 1993).

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