programs. The following review of literature provides an overview of the research done on mentor programs.
In support of the provision of mentor programs at school, psychologist Dr. Ellen Slicker, from Middle Tennessee State University, found that all the "well-mentored" sophomores in Houston's Spring High School stayed in school during the late '80s. What is even more significant in the study is that good mentors were essential to the success of the mentor program. Good mentors need not spend a great amount of time with their mentees. However, they should interact with their mentees on a consistent basis in order to forge a stable relationship with the students. According to Slicker, students with bad mentors dropped out of school more than the controls with no mentoring. Therefore, it is important to emphasize that a mentor program in itself does not necessarily lead to good results (in Murray, 1995, pp. 1-2).
In California, a mentor program was launched in El Camino Real High School by partnering adult professionals in the community and high school juniors and seniors with freshman students. Ron Bauer, the principal, claimed that some students improved their grades. Discipline problems were reduced by half ("Mentors," 1996, p. 22).
Other mentor programs reported some successes in helping students improve their academic performance and develop a positive attitude towards learning. At Miramar College in California, mentors provided tutoring services to students with English and Math problems. In 1992, 58 percent (compared to 37 percent of students with no mentors) of the mentored students obtained a high score in English. In Math, 52 percent of mentored students achieved a high score, compared to 41 percent of their counterparts without mentors. To help students stay in schools, the Saint Clair County Community College offered peer mentors who provide social and academic support to at-risk students (Brawer, 1996).
The p...