Student advocacy: A case study examining a high school mentoring program for students at risk.

Abstract

This study investigated the perceived effectiveness of a mentoring program known as the Student Advocacy Program for at-risk students at a selected high school. Case study methodology was used to explore, describe, and analyze the perceptions of students, parents, and volunteer staff members participating in the program. The following questions guided the study: What components of the Student Advocacy Program positively impact the school lives of at risk students? What factors do students, their parents, and their advocates perceive as contributing to the success of the Student Advocacy Program? What other school, family, and/or community factors may contribute to these students' decisions to persist or drop out of school? This study was limited in terms of generalizability because only one program in one high school was used. Findings reflect what the individuals who were interviewed understood about the program. Fifty-two students and 30 staff members participated in the Student Advocacy Program during the 1992-93 school year. From this group of 52 students, counselors at the high school agreed on the five students they considered most successful and the five students they considered to be least successful. Interview data from these 10 students, their parents, and their advocates provided the focus for the study. Documentary data from attendance profiles, discipline records, and report cards for the 10 students were used as a secondary source to support and verify findings. In an effort to create a meaningful picture of the Student Advocacy Program, each student was treated as a single case study. Analysis of data from interviews and school documents suggested themes, categories, and dimensions of those categories for each individual student. These case studies were then analyzed as a group to identify significant themes, categories, and dimensions among students at risk and programs and practices within schools that may warrant future investigation. Three categories emerged during analysis: (1) specific advocate characteristics; (2) influence of the advocate as perceived by the students, parents, and the advocates themselves; and (3) student attitudes toward school. Explaining these categories, their dimensions, and the relationships among them is left to future confirmatory studies.