Entries by Jean Rhodes

Deconstructing “risk” in youth mentoring programs

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By Cyanea Poon and Jean Rhodes Mentoring programs and researchers often try to get some sense of the “risk factors” facing their mentees. To do so, they often tally up everything from family poverty and marginalization to personal struggles with mental health or friendship.  In a recent study (Poon, Herrera, Jarjoura, Keller, McQuillin, Keller, T., […]

How mentoring programs can help address the youth mental health crisis

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By Jean Rhodes The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recent released a report warning of a worsening mental health crisis among adolescents. In a recent large survey ( N =7,700), more than 40% of young people reported feeling  “persistently sad or hopeless,” with 20% saying they have contemplated suicide.  As the Deputy Director noted, […]

Why do some mentoring relationships “click” while others fail?

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by Jean Rhodes Even the most caring, consistent mentors may struggle to connect with certain youth, while other matches just seem to click from the start. Researchers have found that the quality of adult-youth relationships is conditioned by a wide range of individual, family, and contextual influences, including: 1.  Interpersonal History Children and adolescents who […]

How therapeutic mentoring can help bridge gaps in mental health care

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By Jean Rhodes An estimated two-thirds U.S. children and adolescents who suffer from mental health problems will never receive professional care. What’s more BIPOC youth are about half as likely as White youth to access services and receive evidence-based care.  As my colleagues and I have argued, the field of mentoring is well-positioned to step […]

CZI Supports Racial Diversity in Education to Improve Outcomes for All Students

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Bolstered by continued research showing the positive impact of a racially and culturally diverse educator workforce on student learning, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative today announced another series of grants to expand the pipeline of diverse teachers, administrators, and education leaders nationwide. Totaling more than $9 million, these grants support organizations with bold initiatives to ensure […]

Building Relationships with Diverse Learners

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Meet Laura Tollis, an 8th-grade teacher who co-teaches math, social studies, language arts and whose primary focus is supporting students with special needs. She describes how she builds relationships with all the students in her class, and offers tips to connect better with those who have diverse needs and invisible disabilities: When I set out […]

Introduction to issue sponsored by Along

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By Ben Houltberg, Ph.D., LMFT (President & CEO of The Search Institute) and Jean Rhodes, Ph.D. (Director of The Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring ) Many of the articles, profiles, and research summaries in this Chronicle issue, sponsored by Along, focus on the importance of teacher-student relationships. They highlight the role of teachers in promoting students’ […]

“You cannot mentor someone you don’t know”: A Conversation With Wallace Grace About Black Teacher Collaborative, Mentoring, and Along

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Wallace Grace, Director of Innovation at Black Teacher Collaborative (BTC), brings over a decade of experience in education as an educator, practitioner, and researcher having worked in education non-profits, schools, and districts across the nation. In his current role as Director of Innovation, Wallace contributes five years of experience using academic, applied, and practitioner-based research […]

I Don’t think you like me very much: Child minority status and disadvantage predict relationship quality with teachers

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Fitzpatrick, C., Côté-Lussier, C., Pagani, L. S., & Blair, C. (2017). I Don’t think you like me very much: Child minority status and disadvantage predict relationship quality with teachers. Youth & Society, 1-17. DOI: 10.1177/0044118X13508962. Summarized by Stella Kanchewa, M.A., UMass Boston doctoral student Children’s academic performance relates to important adult outcomes including career options, […]

Recent meta-analysis highlights the promise of cross-age peer mentoring

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by Jean Rhodes Although several meta-analyses of intergenerational mentoring programs have been conducted, my colleagues and I recently conducted the first comprehensive meta-analysis of cross-age peer mentoring programs for youth. Based on the doctoral dissertation of Samantha Burton, Ph.D., the study shows some potentially promising results. Indeed, analyses revealed a medium-sized overall effect of cross-age […]