Tapping Into the Power of Peers: Supporting Students through School Transitions

This month, Spark is proud to partner with MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership and many other organizations in celebrating National Mentoring Month!  In honor of all mentoring efforts, we share here a guest blog post from peer organization Center for Supportive Schools.  While Spark pairs students with adult mentors for workplace-based mentoring, Center for Supportive Schools' unique model leverages peer-to-peer mentoring in their school-based program.  No matter the format, when implemented effectively, mentoring programs across the country and around the globe are working to close the mentoring gap. 

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“I always looked forward to meeting with my peer group because they were like family and they led me down the right path.”
– 9^th grade Peer Group Connection (PGC) participant

There exists a profound weakness in the support provided to students during their transitions into middle and high school. Across all communities, these transitions can destabilize many students^[1] and are often marked by declines in academic achievement,^[2] competency beliefs,^[3] motivation,^[4] and self-esteem.^[5],[6] Further, transitioning students often display increased psychological distress^[7] and referrals to mental health services;^[8] and the start of smoking, alcohol, drug, violence, discipline, and attendance problems.^[9],[10] Left unaddressed, these serious problems can result in devastating long-term consequences including dropping out of school.

For nearly 40 years, the Center for Supportive Schools (CSS) has activated the most underutilized resource in schools – the students themselves – as a powerful force for creating caring and vibrant school communities that support students throughout and beyond these periods of increased vulnerability.

Why the transition years matter. 

A leading researcher on improving high-poverty secondary schools, Dr. Bob Balfanz calls the first year of the middle grades (typically 6^th grade), “a make-or-break year.”[11] In his landmark 2009 brief,[12] Dr. Balfanz asserts that in high-poverty environments, a student’s middle grades experience strongly impacts the odds of graduating from high school. Further, in high-poverty environments it is possible to identify in the middle grades up to half, and sometimes even more, of eventual dropouts.

By the time they reach high school, more than half of all students are “chronically disengaged” from school.[13] Research consistently demonstrates that students are most vulnerable for dropping out of school during and immediately following their first year of high school.[14] More students fail 9th grade than any other grade[15] and promotion rates between 9th and 10th grade are much lower than rates between other grades.[16]

Power of peers. 

Peer group interactions and school culture and climate have consistently been named among the most influential factors on student learning.[17] Further, a mounting body of evidence clearly indicates that, compared to students who do not participate in such programs, students who receive programming focused on social and emotional learning (SEL) academically outperform their peers, get better grades, and graduate at higher rates.[18] In 1979, CSS introduced a peer mentoring model known as Peer Group Connection (PGC) that combines all of these mechanisms – caring peer groups, supportive school climates, and SEL skill development – to improve educational outcomes for youth transitioning into high school. Now available for high schools and middle schools, PGC is currently implemented in over 250 schools nationally.

PGC supports incoming middle and high school students (9th graders or 6th graders) by immersing them in safe, supportive groups led by older peer mentors. Carefully selected older students (11^th and 12^th graders in high schools; 8^th graders in middle schools) are trained as part of their regular school schedule in a daily, 45-minute leadership development class to become peer mentors and serve as positive role models and group facilitators for their younger peers. Peer mentors work in pairs to co-lead groups of 10 to 14 younger students in regularly scheduled (three to four times per month) sessions in which the younger students participate in engaging, hands-on activities in supportive environments.

“I think that being a [peer mentor] has taught me how to be able to help and mentor people my age and younger to show them why whatever it is that they’re doing is important and also lead them on the path of success.”

-PGC Peer Mentor

Rutgers University conducted a randomized, 4-year longitudinal study of the effect of PGC on 4-year cohort graduation rates at one high school in an urban community serving an economically disadvantaged population. Results indicated that PGC improved graduation rates of participants by 9 percentage points and improved the graduation rates of male participants by 18 percentage points.[19]

Through PGC and other approaches that harness the power of peers, CSS helps schools leverage the leadership potential of students to accomplish three important goals:

1. students become more closely connected with school and more deeply engaged in their own learning, which research makes clear leads to greater academic achievement;
2. students develop leadership, social/emotional, non-cognitive skills that research shows are critical to college and career success; and
3. schools help solve for their resource constraints by adding many, many more helping hands.

Our goal is that safer and more supportive, engaging, and inspiring schools are equipped to  address the special needs of transitioning students and enable and inspire their leadership and their success.

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By Dr. Margo Ross, Senior Director of Development

Margo Ross, Psy.D., is Senior Director of Development at the Center for Supportive Schools, a nonprofit organization with a 37-year history of partnering with schools to train and mobilize students to be lifelong leaders who make schools better for themselves, their peers, and younger students. Dr. Ross has been a member of the staff at CSS for over 15 years and is a certified school psychologist in New Jersey. She holds both a doctorate and a master's degree in school psychology from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Rutgers University.

About Center for Supportive Schools

The Center for Supportive Schools (CSS, formerly Princeton Center for Leadership Training) develops, disseminates, and promotes peer leadership, advisory, and other evidence-based K-12 solutions that enable and inspire schools to more fully engage students in learning, better connect students to their schools, motivate and equip students to make decisions responsibly, and accelerate academic achievement. Since 1979, CSS has partnered with 350 schools in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C., and 8 other states. Our work has touched hundreds of thousands of students, educators, and families. www.supportiveschools.org

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[1] Elias, M. J. (2001). Middle School Transition: It's Harder Than You Think: Making the Transition to Middle School Successful; Middle Matters, Winter 2001, 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.onteora.k12.ny.us/cms/lib01/NY24000036/Centricity/Domain/14/10-11TaskForceResearch/MSTransitionHarder.pdf

[2] Theriot, M. T. & Dupper, D. (2009). Student Discipline Problems and the Transition From Elementary to Middle School. Education and Urban Society 42(2), 205 – 222. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249682231_Student_Discipline_Problems_and_the_Transition_From_Elementary_to_Middle_School

[3] Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (1994). Children’s competence beliefs, achievement values, and general self-esteem: Change across elementary and middle school. Journal of Early Adolescence, 14(2), 107-138.

[4] Theriot, M. T. & Dupper, D. (2009). Student Discipline Problems and the Transition From Elementary to Middle School. Education and Urban Society 42(2), 205 – 222. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249682231_Student_Discipline_Problems_and_the_Transition_From_Elementary_to_Middle_School

[5] Elias, M. J. (2001). Middle School Transition: It's Harder Than You Think: Making the Transition to Middle School Successful; Middle Matters, Winter 2001, 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.onteora.k12.ny.us/cms/lib01/NY24000036/Centricity/Domain/14/10-11TaskForceResearch/MSTransitionHarder.pdf

[6] Wigfield, A., & Eccles, J. (1994). Children’s competence beliefs, achievement values, and general self-esteem: Change across elementary and middle school. Journal of Early Adolescence, 14(2), 107-138.

[7] Theriot, M. T. & Dupper, D. (2009). Student Discipline Problems and the Transition From Elementary to Middle School. Education and Urban Society 42(2), 205 – 222. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249682231_Student_Discipline_Problems_and_the_Transition_From_Elementary_to_Middle_School

[8] Elias, M. J. (2001). Middle School Transition: It's Harder Than You Think: Making the Transition to Middle School Successful; Middle Matters, Winter 2001, 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.onteora.k12.ny.us/cms/lib01/NY24000036/Centricity/Domain/14/10-11TaskForceResearch/MSTransitionHarder.pdf

[9] Elias, M. J. (2001). Middle School Transition: It's Harder Than You Think: Making the Transition to Middle School Successful; Middle Matters, Winter 2001, 1-2. Retrieved from http://www.onteora.k12.ny.us/cms/lib01/NY24000036/Centricity/Domain/14/10-11TaskForceResearch/MSTransitionHarder.pdf

[10] Theriot, M. T. & Dupper, D. (2009). Student Discipline Problems and the Transition From Elementary to Middle School. Education and Urban Society 42(2), 205 – 222. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249682231_Student_Discipline_Problems_and_the_Transition_From_Elementary_to_Middle_School

[11] Balfanz, R. (2009). Putting Middle Grades Students on the Graduation Path: A Policy and Practice Brief. The Everyone Graduates Center and Talent Development Middle Grades Program, National Middle School Association. Retrieved from https://www.amle.org/portals/0/pdf/articles/policy_brief_balfanz.pdf

[12] Balfanz, R. (2009). Putting Middle Grades Students on the Graduation Path: A Policy and Practice Brief. The Everyone Graduates Center and Talent Development Middle Grades Program, National Middle School Association. Retrieved from https://www.amle.org/portals/0/pdf/articles/policy_brief_balfanz.pdf

[13] Blum, R. (2005). School connectedness: Improving the lives of students. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Retrieved from http://cecp.air.org/download/MCMonographFINAL.pdf

[14] Cohen, J. & Smerdon, B. (2009). Tightening the dropout tourniquet: Easing the transition from middle to high school. Preventing School Failure, 53, 177-183.

[15] Kennelly, L. and Monrad, M. (2007). Easing the transition to high school: Research and best practices designed to support high school learning. Washington DC: American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from http://www.betterhighschools.org/docs/NHSC_TransitionsReport.pdf

[16] Wheelock, A. & Miao, J. (2005). The ninth-grade bottleneck: An enrollment bulge

in a transition year that demands careful attention and action. The School Administrator, 62(3),

36.

[17] Wang, M. C., Haertel, G. D., & Walberg, H. J. (1997). What do we know: Widely implemented school improvement programs. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Center for Research in Human Development and Education.

[18] Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (2007). Background of social and emotional learning. Retrieved on September 13, 2011 from http://casel.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/SELCASELbackground.pdf

[19] Johnson, V.L., Simon, P., & Mun, E.-Y. (2014). A peer-led high school transition program increases graduation rates among Latino males. The Journal of Educational Research, 107(3), 186-196.

The Role of Mentoring in the ‘Middle School to High School Transition’

Author: Meha Davé, Director of Program Innovation for Spark

Middle school, as most teachers and parents (and almost anyone!) would agree, can be a difficult time for most students. The brain is in a constant state of development, which makes social, personal and academic transitions challenging. Studies show that grappling with these challenges during this critical time can lead to disengagement and school drop-out during the transition to high school. Consider these statistics:

• Between 60-70% of US students become chronically disengaged from school during 7th or 8th grade[1] 
• 68% of students who drop out of school do so in 9^th grade, or after repeating 9^th grade[2]

Maybe most importantly, the biggest predictor of on-time graduation is if a student is on track during his or her freshman year in high school. These findings underscore what we believe at Spark: supporting underserved students in the middle grades is crucial to bolstering engagement, success and increasing graduation rates.

I recently had the chance to explain how Spark’s mentoring model is doing just this at the

National Mentoring Summit, an incredible opportunity to connect with mentoring colleagues and share best practices! It was founded and convened by MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership, and is the signature event for the mentoring field that brings together approximately 1,000 top researchers, policy makers, practitioners, the network of affiliate Mentoring Partnerships, corporate partners and many other national youth-serving organizations. 

Held in Washington, D.C., the theme of this conference was “Connection, Growth, and Opportunity,” and I was proud to demonstrate Spark’s commitment to these qualities. Through one-to-one mentorships, which pair underserved students with industry professionals, Spark provides a personal connection with a mentor, a tailor-made space for personal and professional growth for students and mentors, and most importantly an opportunity for engagement in an area of personal interest which may have previously seemed out of reach.

Take Andrew for example, a current high school senior, who participated in Spark in

seventh grade. Andrew expressed an interest in drawing, and was paired with a Spark mentor at a Los Angeles architectural firm. Andrew honed his professional and artistic skills in a real-world apprenticeship and felt more prepared for high school as a result. He was just accepted early admission to Brown University and hopes to become an architect. Andrew’s 10-week apprenticeship gave him skills and confidence to better transition from middle school to high school, and his connection with his mentor endures to this day.

Through short and long-term evaluation of Spark participants, we see that Spark students develop the academic mindsets, social emotional and academic skills that lead to improvements in their school performance. We’ve seen that more than 70% of our students have improved their performance in school.

Here are some key factors we attribute to our success, and suggestions for other mentoring programs serving students in the middle grades:

•  Listen to the mentee to gain an understanding of how to tailor their mentorship experience
• Apply mentee areas of interest to project-based, hands-on learning
• Educate mentors about the “middle school mind” and successful strategies for working with this age group 
• Structure mentor and mentee meetings around skill-building activities
• Use the present to explore the future, including youth aspirations around future education and career goals 

Join Spark as we continue to make progress for middle school students and mentors. To become involved as a mentor or supporter, apply here.

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[1] Source: Everyone Graduates Center

[2] www.sparkprogram.org

Mentoring ‘In Real Life’

Four Ways to Celebrate Mentoring and Make an Impact in 2016

For many of us, January symbolizes a fresh start.  It’s about goal setting and looking forward to all of the moments that will make 2016 memorable. Here at Spark, January marks the beginning of the second program session we kick-off each year, pairing students with mentors for 10 weeks of hands-on learning apprenticeships in exciting workplaces..  

It’s fitting then, both personally and professionally, that January is National Mentoring Month.

For Spark staff beginning the second half of our program year, National Mentoring Month is a reminder that our work is part of a larger educational and social movement.  The Mentoring Effect report tells us that one in three young people feel isolated from meaningful connections with adults outside their home.  There’s a clear need for mentoring and Spark is part of the larger network of organizations working to address this national challenge, helping students build the social capital they need to be successful. This program year, Spark is partnering with 30 schools and more than 200 companies and organizations across four major metropolitan regions and engaging more than two thousand volunteer mentors to serve more than 1,000 middle school students, helping them stay engaged, on track and ready for success in high school and beyond.

National Mentoring Month offers simple ways for all of us to make an individual impact in 2016 through mentoring.  I personally hope you take advantage of this opportunity in January to become a volunteer mentor with Spark.  We need more than 1,000 adults to pair one-to-one with students this spring.  But National Mentoring Month is not just about Spark.  It is an opportunity to celebrate and honor the importance of quality mentoring and highlight the impact that mentoring programs like Spark has on adolescents.

In 2015, week-in and week-out I saw the benefits of mentoring unfolding in real life, in offices across the country.  I watched C-level executives block two hours of time each week to share their professional perspective and guide local students.  "Spark makes it so easy,” said Perry Wallack, CFO of Cornerstone OnDemand and a Spark mentor. “Twenty hours is a really small amount of time to play a part in helping a student graduate from high school by motivating them through exposure to world opportunities. We are giving them an essential tool to being successful in life."

I heard from educators who witness positive growth in their students because of Spark mentors. "We've seen their grades improve, we've seen them become more outgoing, but the most important part for us is that we are providing our students with the opportunity to engage in learning experiences outside the confines of their own communities,” shared Sean Holiday, Principal of a Spark partner school.

I watched mentors at Deloitte and CEB and Sony PlayStation take time out of their busy workdays to tap into students’ interests and motivations, engage them in exciting projects with real-world applications and to teach them success skills. I saw students create marketing campaigns for their own fashion lines, and detailed plans for new sporting venues, and concepts for new video games. More than this, I saw students with their own desires ignited and caring adults who believed in them.

Throughout January, organizations, policy makers, mentors and mentees will celebrate the powerful impact of quality mentoring programs across the country. I encourage you to add your voice to the celebration by supporting the mentoring efforts and the volunteer mentors in your community.

Here are four ways you can make 2016 better for a young person and for yourself!

1. Volunteer with Spark and dedicate two hours/week for 10 weeks to a local 7^th or 8^th grader
2. Share your mentoring story on Facebook or Twitter with the hashtag #MentorIRL (Mentor In Real Life)
3. Change your Facebook or Twitter profile image to reflect your support for Spark and mentoring
4. Invest in mentoring with a donation to Spark

Thank you for bringing mentoring to life.

PS: Tremendous thanks to our friends at MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health for making National Mentoring Month a priority since 2002!