Today's students are facing higher academic and social standards than ever before in the history of education in the United States of America. Under federal legislation, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) states are required to administer standardized tests to students in grades three through eight to measure Language Arts and Mathematics competency. These yearly assessments are to culminate with a high school proficiency examination which is a requirement for graduation. The increased standards and student accountability has transformed today's public school into something that would be unrecognizable to students who attended the same school ten, fifteen or twenty years ago. Schools need to find a way to meet and exceed these standards in order to use their limited resources to their fullest potential. I propose to use school-based mentoring to target at-risk students to ensure they are prepared for the increasingly changing and challenging world they will live in. Hererra (1999) asserts that today's families and students face a number of new challenges, which impact the home environment as well as the school environment. Students without a strong home and school support system are quickly overwhelmed and get lost in the system. Herrera (1999) found these stresses on families can result in children left without the support of caring adults. Not only are students being left unsupervised at home at earlier ages and for longer periods of time, but students also face less academic support at home with homework and projects. Mentoring has become one of the fastest growing interventions for schools to serve at-risk students. Districts are scrambling to find the best method to provide intervention services to the largest group of students possible, by offering in-house services; schools have more control over the nature and content of the mentoring program. School districts can target specific students for remediation using school-based mentoring; by using certified staff they can make a stronger academic and social connection with the student. This study will examine the effectiveness and efficiency of a school-based mentoring program for upper elementary school students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]