Meeting the Academic Needs of Minority Students through a Non-academic Mentoring Program

This article presents the preliminary results of a mentoring program developed by the Mount Pleasant Independent School District (MPISD) in the State of Texas with the goal of improving low-achieving students' results on the math and reading state mandated tests, Texas Academic Knowledge and Skills (TAKS). The article describes the level of development of the program at the end of the first year of implementation and shows what may be the positive impact of youth participation in mentoring relationships. The apparent impact of the mentoring program is shown through improved scores of TAKS tests of fifth grade and is illustrated in the experience of a mentor teacher and her group of students. Although it does not specifically target ethnic and language minorities, their improved academic performance may have been the result of the mentoring experience.