A STUDY TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH A SCHOOL-BASED MENTORING PROGRAM AFFECTS THE ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AND SOCIAL BEHAVIORS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES IN A SUBURBAN MIDDLE SCHOOL

Abstract

Abstract of the Study Schools are faced with the challenge of identifying creative ways to ensure the success of all students. The academic achievement gap that persists between African-American students and their counterparts along with the disparate impact of disciplinary practices are issues that educators continue to seek solutions to address. Helping all students achieve academically is difficult; however, when confronted with issues like poverty, broken families, and crime helping students succeed in school becomes even more challenging. Although some progress has been noted, it has been well-documented that African-Americans continue to underperform and lag behind their counterparts academically (McMillian, 2003). The purpose of this study is to examine the impact, if any, a school-based mentoring program had on the academic achievement and appropriate social behaviors of African-American male participants when used as an intervention. The participants in this study attended a suburban middle school, located just outside the city of Philadelphia, and attended this school from 2012 through 2015. The study examined grade point averages, standardized test results, and disciplinary data from two groups of students: the African-American male students who participated in the mentoring program and the remainder of the African-American male students that attended this school during the same period. Data from both the control and experimental groups were examined to determine if students who participated in the mentoring program at any point throughout middle school had an improvement in their grade-point averages, standardized test performance, or lower rates of disciplinary referrals than the group that did not participate in the mentoring program.