Improving School Based Mentoring

This thoroughly updated Second Edition of the Handbook of Youth Mentoring presents the only comprehensive synthesis of current theory, research, and practice in the field of youth mentoring. Editors David L. DuBois and Michael J. Karcher gather leading experts in the field to offer critical and informative analyses of the full spectrum of topics that are essential to advancing our understanding of the principles for effective mentoring of young people. This volume includes twenty new chapter topics and eighteen completely revised chapters based on the latest research on these topics. Each chapter has been reviewed by leading practitioners, making this handbook the strongest bridge between research and practice available in the field of youth mentoring.

Mentorship is a catalyst capable of unleashing one's potential for discovery, curiosity, and participation in STEMM and subsequently improving the training environment in which that STEMM potential is fostered. Mentoring relationships provide developmental spaces in which students' STEMM skills are honed and pathways into STEMM fields can be discovered. Because mentorship can be so influential in shaping the future STEMM workforce, its occurrence should not be left to chance or idiosyncratic implementation. There is a gap between what we know about effective mentoring and how it is practiced in higher education. The Science of Effective Mentorship in STEMM studies mentoring programs and practices at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It explores the importance of mentorship, the science of mentoring relationships, mentorship of underrepresented students in STEMM, mentorship structures and behaviors, and institutional cultures that support mentorship. This report and its complementary interactive guide present insights on effective programs and practices that can be adopted and adapted by institutions, departments, and individual faculty members.

A series of essays on mentoring issues in education, which includes discussion of the political and historical aspects of mentoring, the mentor-student relationship and the generic skills approach to mentoring.

A child at loose ends needs help, and someone steps in--a Big Brother, a Big Sister, a mentor from the growing ranks of volunteers offering their time and guidance to more than two million American adolescents. Does it help? How effective are mentoring programs, and how do they work? Are there pitfalls, and if so, what are they? Such questions, ever more pressing as youth mentoring initiatives expand their reach at a breakneck pace, have occupied Jean Rhodes for more than a decade. In this provocative, thoroughly researched, and lucidly written book, Rhodes offers readers the benefit of the latest findings in this burgeoning field, including those from her own extensive, groundbreaking studies. Outlining a model of youth mentoring that will prove invaluable to the many administrators, caseworkers, volunteers, and researchers who seek reliable information and practical guidance, Stand by Me describes the extraordinary potential that exists in such relationships, and discloses the ways in which nonparent adults are uniquely positioned to encourage adolescent development. Yet the book also exposes a rarely acknowledged risk: unsuccessful mentoring relationships--always a danger when, in a rush to form matches, mentors are dispatched with more enthusiasm than understanding and preparation--can actually harm at-risk youth. Vulnerable children, Rhodes demonstrates, are better left alone than paired with mentors who cannot hold up their end of the relationships. Drawing on work in the fields of psychology and personal relations, Rhodes provides concrete suggestions for improving mentoring programs and creating effective, enduring mentoring relationships with youth.

Forewords by Professor Rachel Lofthouse and Reuben Moore. With low early career teacher retention rates and the introduction of the Department for Education's new Early Career Framework, the role of mentor has never been so important in helping to keep teachers secure and happy in the classroom. Haili Hughes, a former senior leader with years of school mentoring experience, was involved in the consultation phase of the framework's design - and in this book she imparts her wisdom on the subject in an accessible way. Haili offers busy teachers a practical interpretation of how to work with the Early Career Framework, sharing practical guidance to help them in the vital role of supporting new teachers. She also shares insights from recent trainee teachers, as well as more established voices in education, to provide tried-and-tested transferable tips that can be used straight away.

Leadership Through Mentoring: The Key to Improving the Principals Confidence and Skill lays out the case for the development of robust mentorship programs to support new school leaders. With principal turnover at an all-time high, it is urgent that schools and districts find ways to help newly appointed leaders grow into effective supervisors, managers, and strategic thinkers who can also find personal and professional satisfaction in their careers. Using examples from several established and successful state programs, Leadership Through Mentoring shows how new school leaders’ effectiveness, vision, and engagement can be grown through intentionally designed and executed programs that offer supportive guidance and wise counsel from experienced leaders. Thoughtfully created and appropriately resourced, such programs can pave the way to longer and more successful principal tenures, which research shows lead directly to significant improvements in schools’ cultures, educational efficacy, and teacher and student performance. This is a book for leaders and governing bodies in all kinds of schools.