Many policy makers believe that increasing the number of caring adults in the lives of disadvantaged youth will improve the children’s outcomes. The goal of the research conducted in this area is to determine whether "created" adult/youth relationships can, in fact, have positive impacts on healthy adolescent development. Our research examines not only whether youth benefit from various forms of mentoring but also the nature and practices of effective mentoring relationships and the administrative structures that facilitate their growth. In addition to one-on-one mentoring programs, we have undertaken evaluations of school-based mentoring and the potential of mentoring for high-risk youth. Below are descriptions of some of the on-going studies, while the articles and reports from completed studies are available on our youth policy publication page.
School-based mentoring is one of the fastest growing forms of mentoring in the US today; yet, few studies have rigorously examined its impacts. This landmark random assignment impact study of Big Brothers Big Sisters School-Based Mentoring is the first national study of this program model. It involves 10 agencies, 71 schools and 1,139 9- to 16-year-old youth randomly assigned to either a treatment group of program participants or a control group of their non-mentored peers. Surveys were administered to all participating youth, their teachers and mentors in the fall of 2004, spring of 2005 and late fall of 2005.
The report describes the programs and their participants and answers several key questions, including: Does school-based mentoring work? What kinds of mentoring experiences help to ensure benefits? How much do these programs cost? Our findings highlight both the strengths of this program model and its current limitations and suggest several recommendations for refining this promising model. are designing and conducting a random assignment evaluation of
school-based mentoring programs. The study will follow the lives of
approximately 1,600 elementary and middle school students for a year and a half
from the time they apply to the program. The lessons generated from this study
can be spread nationwide to improve the support children receive in school.
This program identifies children when they are very young (first grade) and matches them with a mentor (or Friend) who provides one-on-one support and guidance for an extended period of time (twelve years). Dr. Grossman and her colleagues at P/PV have started a random assignment impact study of the program’s effects on the children’s behavior, health and well-being.