The New Mentors

Abstract

Although we have a tendency to lay blame on our public schools for the current state of American education, a plausible case can be made for another major contributing factor, as well. Over the past decades, there has been a diminution in the number of caring adults who pay attention to our children. We were once a mentoring society; we are not now. In the past few years, a surge of new mentors has emerged, however, rising from programs sponsored by business, community, and national organizations. This influx may make a difference, but the new mentors, though numbering in the millions, presently fall far short of filling the mentor gap. This article, through in-depth vertical analyses of four case studies, attempts to probe the question of what mentors do to enhance education and the school and career readiness of mentees.