Traditional adult/youth mentoring programs have been associated with a host of positive academic, behavioral, and social/emotional youth outcomes. Little research, however, has been done on pre-service teacher/ youth mentoring programs; specifically if the benefits associated with more traditional mentoring programs translate into this context.…

Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions,…

Background: Gaining employment can be challenging for young adults with intellectual disability (ID). This study reports on a mentoring intervention to help counter barriers to employment. Method: A single-group, pre-post design was used. Eighteen young men with mild to moderate ID joined a local Men's Shed and were assigned a Shed member as their…

Intergenerational service-learning between college students and older adults is a commonly used in educational gerontology. Service-learning is believed to enhance student learning through an equivalent focus on service and learning, reflection, and linking course content with the service experience. This article describes a comentoring project…

Aiming to elucidate the relationship between social capital and intergenerational practice within mentoring, this article presents data from a case study of the School Volunteer Program in Western Australia. Drawing on situated learning theory and the concept of community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998; Wenger, McDermott, &…

This article features Campus Kids, a mentoring program located at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Gonzaga is a Jesuit University with a strong commitment to social justice and humanistic education. Campus Kids began, in the true sense of a community partnership, as an attempt to connect community resources (potential university…

There are a number of compelling reasons that justify attention to and implementation of non-familial adult participation in the lives of youth, through mentoring and intergenerational activities and programs. This article describes the rationale for activities that connect youth and older non-familial adults together in meaningful and productive…

This document contains six papers exploring contemporary issues in mentoring. "The Practice, Quality, and Cost of Mentoring" (Jean Baldwin Grossman) provides an introduction to and overview of the remaining five papers. "Mentoring Adolescents: What Have We Learned?" (Cynthia L. Sipe) reviews the literature on mentoring, discusses key elements in…

In a Canadian program, adult volunteer mentors meet with elementary student mentees for an hour each week during school. An evaluation of five such school-based mentoring programs found that mentored students developed a more positive attitude towards school, achieved higher grades, and improved relationships with adults and peers. Mentors report…

A study examined whether the characteristics of rural communities would limit success of a statewide mentoring program in Nebraska. Surveys of 1,490 students, parents, mentors, and teachers in 10 rural and 23 nonrural schools indicated similar positive changes in student behavior in rural and nonrural schools. Provision of mentors and staff by…

Anecdotal reports of the protective qualities of mentoring relationships for youth are corroborated by a growing body of research. What is missing, however, is research on the processes by which mentors influence developmental outcomes. In this article, we present a conceptual model of the mentoring process along with a delineation of some of the…

A demonstration project was conducted in three diverse, multiethnic Western Pennsylvania communities to use older adult tutors to improve Head Start parents' literacy skills so that these parents could aid and encourage the development of their own children's literacy. During the project, the partnerships in two Pennsylvania counties developed and…

This guide was developed during a demonstration project conducted in three diverse, multiethnic Western Pennsylvania communities to use older adult tutors as mentors to improve Head Start parents' literacy skills and ability to develop their children's literacy. The guide is intended to facilitate tutors' learning about family literacy and to give…

The Experience Corps Program, which was initiated in 1996 in New York's South Bronx, connects retirees with children in elementary schools. The Experience Corps' volunteers, who are mostly lifelong residents of the South Bronx, work a minimum of 15 hours each week throughout the school year as mentors, tutors, and special assistants. Since 1997,…

This Congressional report contains the remarks made at a special meeting of the United States Committee on Aging to celebrate senior citizen's service to their community and examine policies regarding federally funded senior service programs. The following are among the programs, agencies, and organizations represented: Senior Companion Program;…