Girl Power! A School Based Mentoring Program for Girls At-Risk

Format

Individual Presentation

Location

Scarbrough 1

Strand #1

Family & Community

Strand #2

Social & Emotional Skills

Relevance

Girl Power! is a mentoring program to help middle school girls who may be at risk for academic and social failure because of risk factors such as poverty or unstable home lives to improve their self esteem, future outlook and school connectedness.

Brief Program Description

This session will provide participants with the opportunity to learn more about the Girl Power! Mentoring program. Girl Power! is a mentor program which targets middle school aged girls who live in generational poverty by providing mentors who are undergraduate college aged women. This is a school based mentoring program with both group and individual mentoring components. Participants will receive information and materials as to all aspects of the program development, administration and management. This program utilizes the 6 standards of the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™, Third Edition.

Summary

This session will provide a framework for a GirlPower! mentoring program, (middle school girls matched with undergraduate college women) including an overview and rationale for mentoring as an intervention, description of the targeted developmental level of mentees and description of activities. Rationale for utilization of undergraduate college women as mentors, and information concerning training of mentors is included. The Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™, Third Edition will be referenced and importance of using this document ( this document is freely available and participants will be provided copies) as a guide to best practices will be stressed. Participants will be provided opportunities to learn about the development and implementation of a Girl Power! program through interactive hands on activities. Participants will be provided with take home materials including recruitment materials and program activities that will be useful for those who wish to implement their own school based mentoring program.

Evidence

As more schools strive to develop positive, supportive plans for individual students at risk, school-based mentoring is becoming more prevelant as an intervention (Baker & Maguire, 2005; DuBois & Karcher, 2005). Program factors, such as mentor matching, training, procedures for programing and closure of the match are identified in the "Elements of Effective Practice 3rd Ed." (Mentor, 2009). It is important that program leaders understand and follow these specific program components since research suggests that mentoring programs with higher levels of support and training are more likely to produce longer term relationships and better outcomes for mentees (DuBois et al., 2002; Jolliffe & Farrington, 2007). References Baker, D. B., & Maguire, C. P. (2005). Mentoring in Historical Perspective. In D. L. DuBois & M. J. Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of Youth Mentoring. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. DuBois, D. L., Holloway, B. E., Valentine, J. C., & Cooper, H. (2002). Effectiveness of Mentoring Programs for Youth: A Meta-Analytic Review. American Journal of Community Psychology, 30(2), 157-197. DuBois, D. L., & Karcher, M. J. (2005). Youth Mentoring, Theory, Research, and Practice. In D. L. DuBois & M. J. Karcher (Eds.), Handbook of Youth Mentoring. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Jolliffe, D., & Farrington, D. P. (2007). A rapid evidence assessment of the impact of mentoring on re-offending: a summary. Cambridge University. MENTOR. (2009). "Elements of Effective practice for Mentoring 3rd. Ed. Alexandria: Mentor.

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Cindy Ann Smith serves as an Assistant Professor of Special Education at the University of West Georgia. Dr. Smith has a keen interest in mentoring programs for adolescents at high risk for academic and social failure and is involved in research concerning: effective mentoring programs for specific populations of students including young girls raised in generational poverty, alleviating the "School to Prison Pipeline", and improving public school education through quality teacher preparation. Dr. Smith has implemented two Girl Power! mentoring programs and has presented and published on mentoring relationship development nationally and internationally.

Miss Kayla Smith is currently a senior in the Special Education Program at the University of West Georgia. Miss Smith is involved in the evaluation of the Girl Power! program currently being implemented at an area middle school through the Student Research Assistant Program.

Keyword Descriptors

school based mentoring, students at risk, after school programs

Presentation Year

2015

Start Date

3-2-2015 1:15 PM

End Date

3-2-2015 2:30 PM

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Mar 2nd, 1:15 PM Mar 2nd, 2:30 PM

Girl Power! A School Based Mentoring Program for Girls At-Risk

Scarbrough 1

This session will provide participants with the opportunity to learn more about the Girl Power! Mentoring program. Girl Power! is a mentor program which targets middle school aged girls who live in generational poverty by providing mentors who are undergraduate college aged women. This is a school based mentoring program with both group and individual mentoring components. Participants will receive information and materials as to all aspects of the program development, administration and management. This program utilizes the 6 standards of the Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring™, Third Edition.