Capítulo I: El Problema
7. Post crisis
Four programs had studies that met or potentially met standards and pro- vided mentoring services.194 Studies of
Sponsor-a-Scholar, Career Beginnings, and Puente reported a positive impact on college enrollment,195 whereas a
study of QOP found no impact on college enrollment.196
The Sponsor-a-Scholar program matched Philadelphia public school students to an adult mentor for five years starting in 9th grade. Mentors were expected to meet with students at least monthly to monitor their academic performance and assist them in preparing and applying for college. For ex- ample, the program asked mentors to re- view students’ report cards for each grad- ing period and to help students stay on track academically. A program coordina- tor recruited mentors, matched them to students, and monitored mentoring rela- tionships. The quasi-experimental study of Sponsor-a-Scholar found that the program increased college attendance in the first two 193. Horn and Chen (1998); Hossler, Schmit, and Vesper (1999); Sokatch (2006).
194. Career Beginnings—Cave and Quint (1990); Puente—Gandara (2002, 2004); Sponsor-a- Scholar—Johnson (1998); QOP—Schirm, Stuart, and McKie (2006).
195. Career Beginnings—Cave and Quint (1990); Sponsor-a-Scholar—Johnson (1998); QOP— Schirm, Stuart, and McKie (2006).
APPENDIx D. TECHNICAL INfORmATION ON THE STUDIES
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years after high school but had no impact on whether students remained enrolled be- tween the first and second years.197
The Career Beginnings program offered students a two-year relationship with an adult mentor in addition to academic tu- toring, summer jobs, and various college preparation activities. Mentors were college- educated professionals who served as role models for students and assisted them in developing career goals and applying to col- lege. The random assignment study of Ca- reer Beginnings did not report a significant impact on enrollment in two-year colleges or enrollment in four-year colleges, but it re- ported a significant impact when these two outcomes were combined (i.e., enrollment in two- and four-year colleges). Although men- tors were an important component of the Career Beginnings approach, the program included several other activities, such as summer employment, that make it difficult to assess the role of mentoring in contribut- ing to program impacts.
QOP assigned a case manager to at-risk students for five years who was expected to serve in a mentoring role. Case man- agers worked with about 15 to 25 partici- pants and often developed relationships described as similar to “that of a caring aunt or uncle.”198 In addition to mentor-
ing services, the program offered supple- mental instruction, support services, and community service activities. The random assignment study of QOP in seven sites found no impact on college enrollment, retention, or attainment.199
The High School Puente program had one study that potentially meets standards. The quasi-experimental study did not pro- vide sufficient information to assign a rat- 197. The author reports that college enrollment in the second year after high school was signifi- cant at the 0.10 significance level.
198. Maxfield et al. (2003).
199. Schirm, Stuart, and McKie (2006).
ing. The study matched 72 Puente students in three California high schools to 72 non- Puente students based on grades, reading scores, ethnicity, social background, and gender.200 However, there was insufficient
information to determine whether these two groups were comparable on a mea- sure of socioeconomic status (a require- ment for quasi-experimental studies in this guide to meet standards with reser- vations). The author reports a significant positive effect on four-year college enroll- ment but did not provide information on the statistical significance of other college enrollment outcomes. The Puente pro- gram recruited mentors from the local community to serve as role models for Latino high school students and to spend time with students’ families. As a note of caution, the study found that mentors had difficulty establishing a relationship with 9th-grade students who were often focused on the day-to-day challenges at school rather than on long-term education plans. The authors suggest this may have been related to the characteristics of the mentors themselves, and they report that group activities for mentors and students and efforts by mentors to reach out to par- ents were useful strategies.
The panel relied on three additional pro- grams for mentoring practices, although these programs had studies that did not meet WWC standards. The College Bound program recruits Boston College students to mentor students in local high schools. The mentors develop a relationship with students through monthly meetings and advise them about the college application and selection processes.201 The Washington
State Achievers program, which also in- cludes college scholarships, links students to “hometown mentors” from the commu- nity who assist students with the college and financial aid application processes be- 200. Gandara (2002).
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ginning in their junior year.202 The I Have
a Dream program does not match students to mentors, but it has a program coordina- tor who is expected to assist and support students throughout middle and high school on their path to college.203