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__**EDLD 512 Spring 2011 Group Research Project**__

 * Introduction** (to be completed later)


 * Background** (to be completed later)


 * Problem Statement**

It is not known that the peer mentoring program at Mardela Middle High School is producing positive and effective results. In order to justify the program’s effectiveness this study must look at Student achievement, discipline, attendance, assessment, other effective programs, demographics and culture. This qualitative case study will examine all areas surrounding peer mentoring and its successful implementation. Students, Staff, Administrators and parents from the Mardela / Middle High School will be surveyed for their opinion and feedback to the current peer mentoring program. Students from Mardela Middle / High School will be observed to gather information on the dynamics of the program and the structure used in the established peer mentoring program.

The purpose of this study is to determine the successfulness of the Mardela Middle and High School Mentoring Program. This will be determined through analyzing data in the areas of attendance, achievement, and behavior. This study will show if the current mentor program is an efficient use of time and resourses. If the program is found to be effective it could be expanded to meet the needs of a larger student population at MMHS and surrounding schools. The study will also demonstrate if the current program should be used as a model for future mentoring programs.
 * Purpose Statement**
 * Rationale**

__Question # 1__ //**Does the peer mentoring program have a positive impact on school culture?**// It is imperative to determine whether the program is a disruption to the school climate If the program does in fact have a positive impact on the school, chances are that it will successfully instill long-term social skills in its participants. If successful the program may be providing opportunities to bridge social gaps within the participants, which will have a greater influence on the student body as a whole. Unfortunately, if the program is having a negative impact it may be straining resources and time for students and staff, particularly if they are missing instructional time to participate in the mentoring program.
 * Research Questions**

__Questions #2__ //**Does the peer mentoring program improve academic achievement?**// To measure the success of the peer mentoring program at Mardela Middle/High School the key component of academic achievement must be considered. Ideally the program will provide additional academic support, and place an emphasis on academic success through the relationships between students. Additionally, the program may create a competitive academic environment fostering academic achievement, which may result in higher MSA/HSA test results, and reducing the need for Bridge Projects.

__Question #3__ To measure program success, the data reflecting attendance must be evaluated, including information prior to the beginning of the program, to recent attendance data. The program could motivate students to attend school to improve socialization skills. Additionally, if attendance is improved through the institution of the peer mentoring program, academic achievement has a better chance of improving. The program may also foster an increased confidence, which could motivate students to attend and actively participate.
 * //Does the peer mentoring program promote improved attendance?//**

__Questions #4__ //**Does the peer mentoring program effective reduce discipline referrals?**// It is imperative to determine whether the program has reduced the number of discipline referrals. Those participating in the program may receive positive recognition therefore reducing the need to act out. Additionally, the program could be used as positive reinforcement, as it may establish higher verbal and nonverbal expectations.

We will be using the qualitative case study method to determine the effectiveness of Mardela's peer menotring program. Our participants will include a variety of individuals such as the mentors, the mentees, parents, teachers, and administrators. The people listed were chosen because they are the stakeholders in the program and its effectiveness. We have chosen these participants in order to ensure that we have a fair representation of the program and its different effects that will occur. We will gather our data by conducting one-on-one interviews with the participants, observations of a mentoring session, and the classroom performance of the students participating. Along with that we will also analyze the data based upon grades, attendance, and test scores and we will compare and contrast data that was collected prior to the case study, and during the case study. This will also be used in comparison with post data. The validity and reliability of our data will show the attitudes and success of the students before and after the program in all aspects of their daily activites, including but not limited to analysis of behavior, grades, etc. Limitations of this case study include, finite number of mentor pairs, childs home life, and social and academic demographics. Delimitations include the idea that only Mardela is a qualifying school taking place in the study. This does not allow for furthur data analysis to occur. Other delimitations that may occur will be the length of the study, the mentor and mentee pairing, and the selection of students participating.
 * Methodology**
 * Limitations/Delimitations**

Peer Mentoring Programs- Who cares? (Liz Riggin Miller)
 * Literature Review**
 * Rationale**

Peer mentoring programs are a very important part of creating a partnership between an (usually) older student and younger student in a school and learning environment. It’s essential that a peer mentor helps their mentee adjust socially to their environment at school by not only their guidance, but by leading with reliability and good social skills. Who cares about these peer mentoring programs? The students who are assigned a mentor are dependent on them to provide support and guidance to their adaptation to a new school, or possibly even just getting on track to be a successful student, academically and behaviorally. Parents are especially concerned with the success of a program like this because it could potentially have a real and beneficial effect on their child. A peer mentoring program could mean the difference between a student assimilating into a school smoothly or hitting some real barriers along the way. It is the mentor’s job to help their mentees feel safe, secure, confident, and capable of achieving academic and social success. Administrators and teachers also care about programs like this. Inevitably there will be discipline issues in any school, but by implementing programs like this and seeing to their success, the hope is to cut down on the discipline issues and create a school climate that is inviting, successful, and nurturing. Peer mentoring programs affect many people and with their integration into schools, students, parents, administrators and teachers will all benefit from their success.

Best Practices (Sidney Hankerson) Cross age mentoring programs gain popularity in the early 1980’s. The most successful cross age mentoring program are extremely structured! They are also adapted to the needs of the demographics as well as the needs of the organization. The most successful programs consist of the following components; frequency/Duration of meetings, recruitment, screening (diverse sound), training, supervision, and activities. Some popular cross mentoring programs for middle school students are Project Raise, Across Age, and Team Works. Project Raise has proven to assist students with better grades and attendance. Across Age is a substance abuse prevention program that targets 6th grade students. Team works consist of three adults (teacher, college student, and community adult) working with students to better their attitudes towards education. Some popular cross mentoring programs for high school students include Career Beginning, and Sponsor-A-Scholar. Both of these programs are academically oriented. The most popular cross age mentoring program is Big Brother Big Sister. This program targets children ages 5-18. References Michard, K. Cross-Age Peer Mentoring Research Action. Issu 7. 2007 Sipe, Cynthia. Mentoring Programs for Adolescents: A Research Summary. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2002. 31. 251-260 [|www.eric.ed.gov] Why do people care if peer mentoring works? (Chakira Ashby)

Peer mentoring has become a favorite among many schools and communities throughout the United States. The positive results have been publicized across news media stations and newspapers across the globe. There are benefits that peer mentoring have played and the public is taking notice. When asked why do people care if peer mentoring works, the responses were very specific. Peer mentoring provides chances for individuals to have positive influences in their life; most with an absent parent or caregiver. People care because mentors are offering an outlet for the children to learn positive images and behaviors that they may be lacking. The public understands that peer mentoring provides an opportunity to check on individual progress. Issues that they may be having can be identified and addressed before they spiral out of control. The mentees can discuss their achievements, problems, and ask for solutions. They can also celebrate their achievements. With the positive ramifications that stem from this program, the dropout rate is lessened, which aids in the reduction of crimes that are committed by individuals that are under the age of 18. If we keep the students in school and excited about learning, they will in succeed.

Articles and Reviews- Peer Mentoring Programs and School Climate (Liz Riggin Miller)

1. In cross-age peer mentoring programs, high school students mentor younger students. Prior research demonstrates the positive effects for mentees as well as for mentors. This program is designed to help school counselors foster high school students' leadership and collaboration skills while simultaneously promoting elementary and middle school mentees' connectedness, self-esteem, and academic achievement. Using a tiered set of students as intervention agents, cross-age peer mentoring programs provide a strengths-based intervention for school counselors at any grade level. Cross-age mentoring programs can be structured by themes that involve school counselors' actions and accountability plans and can utilize a connectedness curriculum to guide the delivery of guidance lessons by students to students.

Karcher, Michael. "The Cross-Age Mentoring Program: A Developmental Intervention for Promoting Students' Connectedness across Grade Levels." //The Cross-Age Mentoring Program: A Developmental Intervention for Promoting Students' Connectedness across Grade Levels// (2008): 0-7. //ERIC//. American School Counselor Association, 00 Dec. 2008. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. [].

//2.// This school-based mentoring program matches mentors and mentees for one hour per week to engage in relationship-building activities at an elementary school. It provides mentors and mentees access to good information about the world of work and potential options, programs that can support their long-term interests, and planning for the future. It is written for high school students who are selected to mentor elementary students. The program's mission is to enhance the healthy development of children and youth through mentoring relationships and to provide a path to post-secondary education. This handbook provides mentors with valuable information on: being a mentor, building mentoring skills, surprises and myths about mentoring, self-esteem for your mentee, developing conversation and listening skills, determining learning styles, as well as protecting oneself as a volunteer and procedures for reporting child abuse.

"High School Teen Mentoring Handbook." //High School Teen Mentoring Handbook// (2009): 0-48. //ERIC//. Alberta Advanced Education and Technology, 2008. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. [].

3. This study tested whether teen mentors' attitudes about children interact with their mentees' characteristics to moderate outcomes of cross-age peer mentoring. The sample included 221 high school volunteers, 205 mentees, and 182 control group youth. There were two profiles of students who were labeled "academically connected" or "disconnected." The study revealed that the academically disconnected mentees who were paired with mentors holding relatively positive attitudes toward youth were more emotionally engaged in the mentoring relationship (than disconnected mentees with more negative mentors) and, subsequently, reported stronger relationships with their teachers at year's end (than did the similarly disconnected children in the control group). There was also evidence of effects of matching negative mentors with academically connected mentees and the results of the mentoring relationship.

Karcher, Michael, Alice Davidson, Jean Rhodes, and Carla Herrera. "Pygmalion in the Program: The Role of Teenage Peer Mentors' Attitudes in Shaping Their Mentees' Outcomes." //Pygmalion in the Program: The Role of Teenage Peer Mentors' Attitudes in Shaping Their Mentees' Outcomes// (2010): 0-16. //ERIC//. Web. 04 Mar. 2011. []. //Student Success Factors: Discipline: Jason Hussey// Sugai. George. (2009). Beyond the Discipline Handbook, How Schools can implement a positive approach to managing student behavior. //Harvard Education Letter,// 25, p 37-41. In the Harvard Education Letter, Dr. George Sugai describes the PBS or PBIS program as a three- tiered system that is aimed at preventing problem behaviors. Tier 1 includes positive behavior, preventive measures, and social skills that are taught throughout the school. These behaviors will be modeled for students and practiced by staff as role models of good behavior. Most of the schools population will fall into tier one. Students in this category will have one or no referrals and the basic code of conduct will deter any bad behavior. Tiers two and three will be where about 20 to 30 percent of students fall. These two tiers are where more interventions will be tried with students. Tier two students will have group sessions that focus on social skills, cognitive-behavioral counseling, and conflict management. The third tier is for students that need one on one meetings with school staff. Students in tier three need frequent positive feedback, reminders, and prompts about how to behave positively. Behavior teams should identify what challenges each individual is having instead of what tier they are on. According to Sugai, the key mistake schools make is that “schools react to negative behavior when positive behavior has never been taught.” For schools to implement PBIS programs, they first need to set up a team of stakeholders for the school. The article also suggests that administators include parents and other school personnel that are not in the classroom. Step two would be for the team to create a common purpose statement and ways they will teach positive behaviors. When looking at referral data, teams can see what positive behaviors need to be worked on. For example, if a school has a high referral rate for lateness to class or school, then a lesson about lateness to class or school should help. Each school will then need to figure out strategies for recognizing students who show positive behavior. Then teams must monitor the impact of interventions they have tried. Results from a random control trial show schools that have implemented this program have seen a decreases in discipline referrals and disruptive behavior.

Jankowski, Katherine A. (2002). Community Building: A Positive Approach to Discipline in Schools. Laurent Clerc National Deaf Education Center. Gallaudet University, Washington, D.C. This article is about how educators need to incorporate emotional intelligence into their schools just like academics. Studies were cited in the report state that most jobs want people with skills that are associated with emotional intelligences, rather than academics. These skills include team building, problem solving, listening, and communicating. Emotional intelligences should be taught and modeled by all staff members and lessons should be part of their academic curriculum. A school should not have to create a new class to teach these skills. With the development of these emotional skills, student discipline problems will improve because students will have learned skills to handle stressful situations. Teachers should be trained according to the American Psychology Association on how to incorporate emotional skill into their classrooms. Two schools were given as examples of successful trials of how to incorporate emotional intelligences into their school climate. Kendall Demonstration Elementary School and Model Secondary for the Deaf on the campus of Gallaudet University were cited as schools that created communities with positive discipline and used emotional intelligences to have less discipline issues. Projects in the classroom dealt with both academic and emotional goals using real world problems to help students gain experience for their future.

Elliott, D., Grady, J., Heys, L, Bell, H, Woodward, B., and Williams, S. (2002). Safe Communities Safe Schools Guide to Effective Program Selection. The Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of University of Colorado. This research helps schools select which violence prevention program is best for them. First, schools should complete an assessment of themselves and the community. Completion of an assessment will allow schools to pick the best prevention program fitting the needs of the school. Next, the article gives a step by step guide in finding the right violent prevention program for your school and how to effectively implement the selected program. Some examples of what the article called “Model Blue Print Programs” are programs that meet all four of the researchers standards. Some examples are the "Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America’s Mentor/ Tutoring program" and the "Incredible Years: Parent, Teacher and Child Training Series" dealing with social/ emotional competence and behavioral management. At the conclusion of the article, they give four steps schools should remember when looking for a violent prevention program: define the problem, identify the best program, implement the program well, and monitor the effects. Included in the appendix are materials that will help schools through the process of finding and implementing the proper violence prevention program.

Combination of a pair of article -- ﻿literature review stuff

//Student Success Factors:Assessment/Achievement// Bernstein, Lawrence; Rappaport, Catherine Dun; Olsho, Lauren; Hunt, Dana; Levin, Marjorie. (2009) Impact Evaluation of the U.S. Department of Education's Student Mentoring Program. Final Report. NCEE 2009-4047 http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/pubs/ This study found that there were no statistically significant impacts of the Student Mentoring Program for the sample on the following outcomes: better school or academic performance and engagement, improved desired behaviors, and reduced delinquent behaviors. Data was collected by analyzing grades, statewide performance assessments, delinquency, misconduct, attendance, truancy, and student surveys. (The programs worked with students in grades 4-8.)

//Rural School Programs// Bierman k, Domitrovich C, Welsh J: (2003) “Promoting Safe Schools and Healthy Students in Rural Pennsylvania”: //Psychology in the Schools//, 40(5), 457-472.

Dickinson G., English L., McBride J., Milligan J., Nichols J.; (2004) Throw Out the Lifeboat: Staying Afloat in the age of Efficeitncy and Effectiviness. 110, //Educational Vol//. 125, No. 1

There are unique challenges pertaining to any program in a rural school district such as the mentoring program at Mardela Middle and High School. One challenge is geography. The location of rural school makes it hard for students to receive additional educational supports such as external tutoring and outside agency mentoring (Bierman k, Domitrovich C, Welsh J: 2003). Another challenge is continuous turnover of staff. Since rural schools districts on average have lower financial budgets they are unable to compete with pay scales of suburban school districts. This in turn leads to a constant turnover of staff leaving students to constantly readjust to new staff (English, Dickisnson, McBride, Milligan, Nichols, 2004).

//Student Success Factors: Attendance// Knowles, C. (2009). Evaluating a formalised peer mentoring programme: student voice and impact audit. //Pastoral Care in Education//, //27//(3), 205-218. In 2006 the United Kingdom started a pilot peer mentoring program. The data collected during the program evaluation found that the peer mentoring program helped people to feel more positively. The impact data collected did not find that peer mentoring programs improved attendance. Karcher, J. (2005). The effects of developmental mentoring and high school mentors' attendance on their younger mentees' self esteem, social skills, and connectedness. //Psychology in the School//, //42//(1), 65-77. This article was about research conducted on older students peer mentoring younger students. The data found that when the peer mentors were present, the mentees had an increase in self-esteem, social skills and behavioral competence. However, the problem with this study is that the older students did not always show up for the mentoring sessions. Their frequent absences actually caused the mentees to have a lowered self-esteem and behavioral competence. In summation, if you are going to try to conduct peer mentoring, you need to be sure that the mentors are responsible and willing to make the commitment. If the mentor’s attendance is poor, it can have a negative effect on the mentees. Grossman, J.B., & Tierney, J.P. (1998). //Social programs that work: big brothers big sisters//. Manuscript submitted for publication, Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy, Retrieved from http://evidencebasedprograms.org/wordpress/?page_id=117 This article explains an impact study conducted on the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program. The study found that after participating in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program for a period of at least 18 months, the mentees made several positive gains. Improvements were noted in improved attendance and school performance. Students were also found to be less likely to hit someone or use drugs or alcohol. This study provided very clear results. It found that peer mentoring programs can increase student attendance. This study proved very positive outcomes for program participants. In general, it appears that if peer mentoring is conducted properly, it can have a positive effect on student attendance. If the mentor’s attendance is inadequate, it can have a very negative effect on the mentee. Research supports using peer mentoring as a strategy to improve student attendance. The idea behind this is that if students can “make friends” and build relationships, they will have an increased desire to attend school, especially if this is something promoted by the mentor.

__** What did I forget????? **__ __** ﻿Best Practices for Evaluating Peer Mentoring Programs **__

Mardela Middle and High School has been running a peer mentoring program over the past couple years to not only help students deal with problems they may be facing but also helping staff with solving these problems. “Prevention programs have recently emerged as significant interventions for a wide variety of concerns” (Tutty,1). Studies do have problems however trying to figure out just how some of these programs are helping their students. The following articles do however give us strong statements talking about the benefits of the programs in all areas of the students lives.

There seems to be a common way that schools are tracking the success of the program all over the country. Goal setting is a very important part of trying to set up peer mentoring programs in a school because you need to have a baseline to start at so that you know what you are trying to measure. A group called “Gear- Up” did a study to try and find out if an intervention style of student learning would help students in poverty do better in testing situations. Their goal was to try and find out if students were ready for college level reading course by using test to measure pre and post academic levels. While they did not find a huge difference in the tests scores between the two groups they did see that there was an improvement in the Gear-Up Program. Most importantly finding that “students in the Gear Up program were slightly more ready for college courses in reading and English” (ACT, 1).

We come across two roles in the schooling system today that directly relate to this program and how it is run. Principals and counselors are under a lot more pressures in today’s times with such a variety of students that are under their wing and problems that could occur. “The dominating modern myth portrays the principal as an underpaid workhorse tangling with conflicting demands” (Eller, 957). All articles on that discuss the peer mentoring program all talk about how important it is to have a great leader (principal) to oversee it and make sure that the goals that are set are being met. As for the counselor’s role in today’s times we find “scholars agree that their needs to be more empirical research demonstrating the relationship between school counseling interventions and student achievement” (Caskey, 1). Counselors are responsible for talking directly with teachers and find out if the program is working for students and if it needs to be changed.

Research has also been done to try and figure out if the program is needed in the school and why it is. In one study they looked at 450 students in an elementary school to find out what problems they may be dealing with. They found that “In grades 4 to 6, 27% experienced both physical and verbal bullying, 21% experienced verbal bullying, and 5% reported physical bullying” (Tulley, 2). This is the sad truth in a lot of schools across the country and trying to find a way to deal with this problem is a big concern. Peer mentoring will allow these students to talk with others about how they are feeling and if something is wrong so that they have someone there for them to help make rational decisions. This is when a needs assessment should be incorporated to find out, "does the problem exist to the extent that a prevention program is warranted?" (Tulley, 2).

Finding appropriate measurement tools has been the biggest struggle in trying to gather information on peer monitoring and how it affects students. A common theme throughout the articles is using teachers for first hand experience with the students to find out how there are acting throughout the program. Another tool that has been brought up is using random assignments to”help measure student’s motivation levels” (Grossman, 19). The program is not just used for students who are suffering from physical or emotional bullying but also for classroom purposes to make sure students are doing their work. If they are not motivated in the beginning for whatever reasons than maybe putting them in the peer mentoring program will help instill motivation for them to do the work.

In the rest of this paper we hope to add to other studies that have already been completed to find out exactly what benefits there are in running a peer mentoring program such as the one in the Mardela School district.

@http://www.ucalgary.ca/resolve/violenceprevention/English/evaluate.htm

@http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED504653.pdf

@http://www.ppv.org/ppv/publications/assets/303_publication.pdf

Link to Parent Survey
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