IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/85106.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Using Volunteer Mentors to Improve the Academic Outcomes of Underserved Students: The Role of Relationships

Author

Listed:
  • Bayer, Amanda
  • Grossman, Jean
  • DuBois, David

Abstract

Schools can benefit from understanding how to use community volunteers to achieve academic goals. A randomized control evaluation, involving 1139 students from 71 schools, of the school-based mentoring program of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America found modest but statistically significant improvements in the teacher-rated academic performance and self-reported scholastic efficacy of mentored students. The present study explores the causal mechanism behind these effects. We find that a close relationship between mentor and protégé appears key to better academic outcomes. Because relationship closeness is not randomly assigned, we use two-stage least squares and other methods to control for potential selection bias. The role of emotional closeness as a mediator of program effects is evident across mentoring relationships of various lengths and statuses. Students were more likely to feel close to their mentors in programs that included weekly meetings and opportunities for mentor-protégé pairs to interact outside of a large-group setting.

Suggested Citation

  • Bayer, Amanda & Grossman, Jean & DuBois, David, 2015. "Using Volunteer Mentors to Improve the Academic Outcomes of Underserved Students: The Role of Relationships," MPRA Paper 85106, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:85106
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/85106/1/MPRA_paper_85106.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Howard S. Bloom, 1984. "Accounting for No-Shows in Experimental Evaluation Designs," Evaluation Review, , vol. 8(2), pages 225-246, April.
    2. Hausman, Jerry, 2015. "Specification tests in econometrics," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 38(2), pages 112-134.
    3. Imbens, Guido W & Angrist, Joshua D, 1994. "Identification and Estimation of Local Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 62(2), pages 467-475, March.
    4. Angrist, Joshua D., 1991. "Grouped-data estimation and testing in simple labor-supply models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 47(2-3), pages 243-266, February.
    5. Alan B. Krueger, 1999. "Experimental Estimates of Education Production Functions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 497-532.
    6. Schwartz, Sarah E.O. & Rhodes, Jean E. & Herrera, Carla, 2012. "The influence of meeting time on academic outcomes in school-based mentoring," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 34(12), pages 2319-2326.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jonathan Guryan & Sandra Christenson & Ashley Cureton & Ijun Lai & Jens Ludwig & Catherine Schwarz & Emma Shirey & Mary Clair Turner, 2020. "The Effect of Mentoring on School Attendance and Academic Outcomes: A Randomized Evaluation of the Check & Connect Program," NBER Working Papers 27661, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Dutton, Hilary & Deane, Kelsey L. & Bullen, Pat, 2020. "Opening up: An exploration of youth mentor self-disclosure using laboratory-based direct observation," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    3. DuBois, David L. & Herrera, Carla & Higley, Elizabeth, 2018. "Investigation of the reach and effectiveness of a mentoring program for youth receiving outpatient mental health services," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 85-93.
    4. Madalina-Maria DODOC (GHITUN), 2023. "Particularities Of The Factors That Influence The Involvement Of Young People In Volunteering Activities," Management and Marketing Journal, University of Craiova, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, vol. 0(2), pages 266-279, November.
    5. McMorris, Barbara J. & Doty, Jennifer L. & Weiler, Lindsey M. & Beckman, Kara J. & Garcia-Huidobro, Diego, 2018. "A typology of school-based mentoring relationship quality: Implications for recruiting and retaining volunteer mentors," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 149-157.
    6. Saud, Muhammad, 2020. "Civic engagement, youth socialisation and participation in public spheres in Indonesia," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. Ford-Paz, Rebecca E. & Crown, Laurel & Lawton, Kathryn & Goldenthal, Hayley & Day, Gail & Coyne, Claire A. & Gill, Tara & Harris, Ngozi & Blakemore, Sheree & Cicchetti, Colleen, 2019. "Working on Womanhood (WOW): A participatory formative evaluation of a community-developed intervention," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 237-249.
    8. Dutton, Hilary & Deane, Kelsey L. & Bullen, Pat, 2018. "Distal and experiential perspectives of relationship quality from mentors, mentees, and program staff in a school-based youth mentoring program," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 53-62.
    9. Kanchewa, Stella & Christensen, Kirsten M. & Poon, Cyanea Y.S. & Parnes, McKenna & Schwartz, Sarah, 2021. "More than fun and games? Understanding the role of school-based mentor-mentee match activity profiles in relationship processes and outcomes," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    10. Kazlauskaite, Vaida & Braughton, Jacqueline E. & Weiler, Lindsey M. & Haddock, Shelley & Henry, Kimberly L. & Lucas-Thompson, Rachel, 2020. "Adolescents’ experiences of mentor alliance and sense of belonging in a site-based mentoring intervention," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    11. Jonathan Guryan & Sandra Christenson & Ashley Cureton & Ijun Lai & Jens Ludwig & Catherine Schwarz & Emma Shirey & Mary Clair Turner, 2021. "The Effect of Mentoring on School Attendance and Academic Outcomes: A Randomized Evaluation of the Check & Connect Program," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(3), pages 841-882, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bayer, Amanda & Grossman, Jean & DuBois, David, 2013. "School-Based Mentoring Programs: Using Volunteers to Improve the Academic Outcomes of Underserved Students," MPRA Paper 85140, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Greenstone, Michael & Gayer, Ted, 2009. "Quasi-experimental and experimental approaches to environmental economics," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 21-44, January.
    3. Deborah A. Cobb‐Clark & Thomas Crossley, 2003. "Econometrics for Evaluations: An Introduction to Recent Developments," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 79(247), pages 491-511, December.
    4. Joshua D. Angrist, 2004. "Treatment effect heterogeneity in theory and practice," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(494), pages 52-83, March.
    5. Cockx, Bart & Bardoulat, Isabelle, 1999. "Vocational Training: Does it speed up the Transition Rate out of Unemployment ?," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 1999032, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    6. Philip Oreopoulos & Daniel Lang & Joshua Angrist, 2009. "Incentives and Services for College Achievement: Evidence from a Randomized Trial," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 1(1), pages 136-163, January.
    7. Huber, Martin & Wüthrich, Kaspar, 2017. "Evaluating local average and quantile treatment effects under endogeneity based on instruments: a review," FSES Working Papers 479, Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, University of Freiburg/Fribourg Switzerland.
    8. Joshua Angrist, 2005. "Instrumental Variables Methods in Experimental Criminological Research: What, Why, and How?," NBER Technical Working Papers 0314, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Giacomo De Giorgi & Michele Pellizzari & William Gui Woolston, 2012. "Class Size And Class Heterogeneity," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(4), pages 795-830, August.
    10. Woutersen, Tiemen & Hausman, Jerry A., 2019. "Increasing the power of specification tests," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 211(1), pages 166-175.
    11. Huber Martin & Wüthrich Kaspar, 2019. "Local Average and Quantile Treatment Effects Under Endogeneity: A Review," Journal of Econometric Methods, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 1-27, January.
    12. Sloczynski, Tymon, 2018. "A General Weighted Average Representation of the Ordinary and Two-Stage Least Squares Estimands," IZA Discussion Papers 11866, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Markus Frölich & Martin Huber, 2017. "Direct and indirect treatment effects–causal chains and mediation analysis with instrumental variables," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 79(5), pages 1645-1666, November.
    14. Amanda E. Kowalski, 2018. "Extrapolation using Selection and Moral Hazard Heterogeneity from within the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment," Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers 2135, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
    15. Alessio Gaggero & Getinet Haile, 2020. "Does class size matter in postgraduate education?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(3), pages 489-505, June.
    16. repec:zbw:rwidps:0023 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    18. Hai Fang & Karen Eggleston & John Rizzo & Richard Zeckhauser, 2013. "Jobs and kids: female employment and fertility in China," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 2(1), pages 1-25, December.
    19. Cornelissen, Thomas & Dustmann, Christian & Raute, Anna & Schönberg, Uta, 2016. "From LATE to MTE: Alternative methods for the evaluation of policy interventions," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 47-60.
    20. Omar Galárraga & David S. Salkever & Judith A. Cook & Stephen J. Gange, 2010. "An instrumental variables evaluation of the effect of antidepressant use on employment among HIV‐infected women using antiretroviral therapy in the United States: 1996–2004," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 173-188, February.
    21. Papke, Leslie E., 2005. "The effects of spending on test pass rates: evidence from Michigan," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(5-6), pages 821-839, June.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    School-Based Mentoring; Relationships; Academic; Volunteers;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:85106. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.