Impact of Participation in a Cross-Age Peer Mentoring Program on School Attendance and Academic Performance

• In Event: 3-042 - Examining the Effectiveness of Three Research-Based Mentoring Programs for At-Risk Youth

Integrative Statement

There is a profound weakness in the support provided to students during the transition into high school. By the time they reach high school, as many as 40 to 60 percent of all students— urban, suburban, and rural— are “chronically disengaged” from school (Blum, 2005). Disengagement is often associated with behavior and discipline problems and may eventually lead to dropout (Fredericks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004).
Research also consistently demonstrates that students are most vulnerable for dropping out of school during and immediately following their first year of high school (Cohen & Smerdon, 2009). More students fail ninth grade than any other grade and promotion rates between ninth and tenth grades are much lower than rates between other grades (Kennelly & Monrad, 2007; Weelock & Miao, 2005). By focusing on the transition from middle to high school, this period of heightened vulnerability has the potential for becoming a window of opportunity for preventing the consequences of disengagement.
This paper highlights results from an independent evaluation of a cross-age peer mentoring program that taps into the power of older students to create a nurturing environment for incoming freshmen. The program utilizes peer leaders to increase school engagement and reinforce desirable behaviors to improve educational outcomes.
The evaluation which was conducted by Westat investigated the program’s impact on student engagement as measured by school attendance and on an indicator of being on track to graduate on time (OTI) as measured by the number of credits accumulated and the number of failures in core courses. Student level data were collected from school districts. Program participants were matched with a comparison group of students who did not participate in the program. A total of 1,802 students were included in the analytic sample.
Results demonstrated a positive and statistically significant impact on attendance with program participants exhibiting a 3.4% higher attendance rate than matched comparison students after one year of program participation. Given a 180-day school year, this translates to program students attending an average of 6.1 more days than comparison students (.0338% x 180 days = 6.08). A positive and statistically significant impact was also observed a full year following participation with program participants exhibiting a 4.3% higher attendance rate than matched comparison students, resulting in an average of 7.8 additional attendance days (.0431% x 180 days = 7.76). Evaluation results also showed a large effect size difference for OTI (effect size = 1.31) on program participants. A sustained impact on OTI (effect size = .59) was observed for program participants a full-year after leaving the program. These results serve to promote the utility of cross-age peer mentoring interventions in improving student engagement and academic performance.

Authors

• Sherry Barr, Center for Supportive Schools
  Presenting Author

• Christine Harris, Center for Supportive Schools
  Non-Presenting Author