The Impact of School-Based Mentoring on Student Achievement and School Engagement in Elementary Aged At-Risk Students: Implications for Leadership

The purpose of this study is to examine the following questions: (1) What is the impact of school-based mentoring on students’ academic achievement and school engagement? (2) Is there a difference in academic achievements and school engagement between at-risk students that participate in school-based mentoring for one year in comparison to at-risk students that participate in school-based mentoring for at least two years? In order to answer the research questions above, eighty students (80) were selected to participate in this study. Forty (40) students were grouped together because of their participation in school- based mentoring. The other forty (40) students formed a match paired control group that mirrored the student demographic data of the group receiving mentorship. Archival data using descriptive statistics was used to determine if there were significant differences between student groups with and without school- based mentoring in the areas of student achievement (TAKS Scaled scores in Reading and Math) and school engagement (daily attendance rate). Based on the descriptive statistics used in this study, the following conclusions were observed: (1) Mentored students had a higher student achievement in terms of mean scale score than their control group matches; (2) Mentored students demonstrated greater year-to-year growth in reading and math in comparison to the control group; (3) Although outperformed in mean scale score in reading, mentored students showed tremendous growth in reading—more than doubling the growth score factor for control group students; (4) Mentored students made greater year-to-year improvements attendance rate than their control group matches; lastly, and perhaps most importantly, (5) At-risk mentored students had higher student achievement than non-risk identified control group students; thus, eliminating the achievement between at-risk students and their non-risk identified peers.