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Mentoring Resource Center participate in a school-sanctioned peer mentoring program that often takes place during the day and is supervised by school staff, may feel safer. This increase in popularity has led to rapid expansion of peer programs around the country. It is now estimated that over 25 percent of all Big Brothers Big Sisters matches are cross-age peer relationships, and over 40 percent of BBBS school-based matches are with high school–aged volunteers (Karcher, 2007). Other school-based programs, such as U.S. Department of Education school-based mentoring grantees, are also turning increasingly to the cross-age peer model. Peer mentoring is clearly a strategy whose time has come. The promise of the cross-age peer mentoring model is best supported by sound program practice and an understanding of how peer mentoring differs from the traditional adultyouth mentoring model more familiar to schools and youth development programs. This guidebook is intended to provide an introduction to best practices associated with crossage peer mentoring programs. It draws on research and observed program practices that can lead to successful outcomes, mostly for programs that take place at a school site— although much of the advice could be adapted by community centers or afterschool programs. No two mentoring programs are alike and there is considerable potential for flexibility in how peer mentoring programs are designed and implemented. Thus, the advice and strategies in this guidebook, and the accompanying Web seminar (http://www.edmentoring.org/ seminar7.html), are focused on key considerations that will be widely applicable to most peer mentoring programs, regardless of their specific themes, activities, and staffing patterns. In addition to the key considerations highlighted in this guidebook, we have also provided listings of many other resources that can help peer mentoring programs improve overall design, training provided to mentors, and the quality of activities mentors and mentees engage in during meeting times. Defining Cross-Age Peer Mentoring Peer helping and tutoring programs have been popular in U.S. schools for decades and are often seen as a great way to build leadership and communication skills in youth while engaging them in academic activities, such as homework completion or test preparation. Peer counseling is another common approach, providing opportunities for students to work with each other in a number of social and emotional areas. While these approaches all have benefits, it is important to distinguish them from cross-age peer mentoring, which has a different emphasis and structure. Cross-age peer mentoring refers to programs in which an older youth (mentor) is matched with a younger student (mentee) for the purpose of guiding and supporting the mentee in many areas of her academic, social, and emotional development. These programs are “cross-age” because there is a gap between the age of the mentor and mentee, which allows for effective role modeling and positions the mentor as a wiser and older individual, as with adult-youth mentoring. But these programs are also “peer” programs because they focus exclusively on youth-youth relationships. 2
Building Effective Peer Mentoring Programs in Schools While other peer programs may include elements of mentoring, cross-age peer mentoring is most defined by the emphasis on the match. The relationship between mentor and mentee is the primary focus. The program’s goals, objectives, and desired outcomes are achieved through the establishment of trusting, mutually beneficial developmental relationships between mentors and mentees. Because of this emphasis on the relationship, cross-age peer mentoring programs primarily use a one-onone model, although many also offer opportunities for group activities and interactions. Although peer mentoring programs may occasionally engage matches in tutoring, homework help, test preparation, or other structured tasks, these activities are secondary to the development of the relationship. This positions crossage peer mentoring as a broad developmental intervention, as opposed to “goal-oriented efforts aimed primarily at improving academic skills (tutoring), resolving interpersonal problems (peer education; peer assistance), or addressing personal problems (counseling).” The relationship may touch on these, but is not defined by these “narrow goals” (Karcher, 2007). The most common program structure involves high school youth working with mentees at a feeder middle or elementary school, although some programs draw both mentors and mentees from the same school (for example, high school juniors mentoring incoming What Can Cross-Age Peer Mentoring Achieve One of the main appeals of peer mentoring is that it can produce a range of positive outcomes for both older peer mentors and their younger mentees. While the research on peer mentoring programs is less extensive than on adult-youth models, a number of key research findings speak to the power of a peer mentoring approach: freshmen). Relationships tend to last for the whole school year, when possible, and some programs include summer break activities to keep matches engaged and help with school transitions. Ideally, these matches would continue across multiple school years. Matches in these school-based programs primarily meet at the school site and often have access to school resources, such as the library, cafeteria, and gymnasium. Many programs For mentees, these programs have shown a positive impact on… – Connectedness to school and peers – Feelings of competency and self-efficacy – Grades and academic achievement – Prosocial behavior and attitudes For mentors, there have been reported improvements in… – Connectedness to school – Self-esteem – Empathy and moral reasoning – Intrapersonal communication and conflict resolution skills – Relationships with parents Research indicates that cross-age matches often meet for more time and more frequently than adult-youth mentoring relationships, and there is some evidence that they may have a greater impact on mentees’ feelings of connectedness to school than adult-youth mentoring. Analysis of the research also indicates that the impacts, for both mentors and mentees, may be more pronounced if mentors are of high school age and if there is at least a two-year age difference between mentor and mentee (hence, the importance of a crossage peer model in which there is some developmental hierarchy between mentor and mentee) (Karcher, 2007). In order to achieve the positive outcomes noted above, programs must pay close attention to program structures and practices that support peer mentors as they work with their mentees. 3
Page 1 and 2: Building Effective Peer Mentoring P
Page 5 and 6: Contents Introduction . . . . . . .
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Page 49 and 50: Appendix A: Partnership Planning To
Page 51 and 52: Appendix B: Training Planning Tool
Page 53 and 54: Appendix B: Training Planning Tool

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