From the Gates Foundation: This School Works for Me (Series)

This School Works for Me (Series)
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Published: January 2010

This series of publications shares promising strategies for raising high school graduation rates, with a focus on how district leaders and decision makers can identify at-risk students, implement interventions, and offer a mix of options and programs that expands college readiness. Mentoring is featured as an important strategy, specifically for eighth grade students and as a support for students transitioning into high school. The first guide is for decision makers, the second guide is for implementation, and the third is about evaluation and assessment. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/united-states/Pages/school-works-for-me.aspx

1. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/united-states/Documents/school-works-for-...

2. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/united-states/Documents/school-works-for-...

3. http://www.gatesfoundation.org/united-states/Documents/school-works-for-...

Those interested in further discussion of the role of mentoring in transitioning into high school, and a broader discussion of how mentoring fits into a systemic strategy for decreasing drop out rates and serving all youth might want to check out this excellent resource from Jobs for the Future: "Bringing Off-Track Youth Into the Center of High School Reform:
 Lessons and Tools from Leading Communities" July 2009: http://www.jff.org/publications/education/bringing-track-youth-center-hi... (click here for PDF of Full Publication).

Also, here is a Fact Sheet on Mentoring as a strategy for youth transitioning into middle school: http://educationnorthwest.org/webfm_send/207