Week 2, Change of Plans, Action Research Project

I have decided to research whether or not a new mentoring program I'm coordinating will have a positive effect on attendance and academic achievement. We have a glaring attendance problem at our high school with our at risk students. We're on block scheduling, so if they miss one day of school they've missed two days of four of their eight classes. Obviously there's a connect between daily attendance and academic achievement, so I want to see if the mentors we're providing can have a positive effect on the students who receive one. The students who are identified as at-risk and are selected for a mentor will benefit from the mentors. In most cases these are children who don't have a strong nuclear family. Some don't know there mothers or fathers, some do but wish they didn't, some live with grandparents, friends, or cousins, and some of the students we've selected have lived through very difficult experiences. We feel they all need someone to talk to, a pseudo parent if you will, and providing them with a mentor will provide them with a trusting individual they can talk to. I hope a mentor will provide them a reason to come to school and excel, a person to praise them when they've done well and pick them up when they've fallen. Our district will also benefit (directly) if the mentoring program is effective. Average Daily Attendance is important for fiscal and academic reasons. An increase in ADA means more money from the state (and we all know budget cuts are coming), and higher test scores are paramount at our school because we were rated academically unacceptable last year. Our teachers will benefit from higher academic achievement and improved attendance because they won't have to reteach, catch students up, and tutor as many students as before. I will look at their test scores, end of course exams, benchmarks, state exam data, class averages, and attendance records over the course of the next year in order to analyze whether or not we're helping and making progress. If we are, we'll stay on course. If we're not, we'll make the necessary changes once we've identified them. I don't see anything negative about a mentoring program, and I've already seen short term results.