From a unique partnership between PAN America, a leader in the design and establishment of peer assistance programs, and Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS), a proven success story in the mentoring field, the Teen Mentoring Initiative (TMI) was born. The TMI endeavors to address two pressing needs in the mentoring arena–fulfilling the mentoring needs of children who languish on long waiting lists for trained mentors and utilizing the energy and abilities of adolescents eager for meaningful volunteer experiences as peer mentors. This model of mentoring has powerful implications for the adolescent mentors, young mentees, the school and families involved and ultimately for the community in terms of school achievement, student retention, and positive behavior and attitude change.
The primary goals of the present evaluation are: 1) collecting baseline data from TMI participants; 2) analyzing the structure, process, and operation of the TMI program; and 3) offering recommendations for improvement. Four high schools and four of their feeder elementary schools in central, east, and north Austin,TX will house the TMI program and will be the sites for the evaluation. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques will be used, and data will be collected utilizing interviews, surveys, and case readings.
Sponsor:
Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
Peer Assistance Network of America