Teen Mentoring Toolkit
Tools for planning, implementing and evaluating a quality school or community-based teen mentoring Initiative
Reflecting, Learning & Improving
“Students are entitled to welcoming, caring, respectful and safe learning environments that respect diversity and nurture a sense of belonging and a positive sense of self.” Education Act.
Taking the time and putting in place the tools to evaluate and assess your teen mentoring initiative allows opportunities to reflect, learn and improve the initiative. Assessment and evaluation is an ongoing process of collecting, interpreting, and acting on information related to the initiatives goals and outcomes. Effective evaluation involves more than collecting, analyzing, and providing data. It makes it possible to gather and use information, and to continually learn about and improve. your teen mentoring.
Evaluation Activities:
Evaluation requires some planning to effectively track, record, analyze and report on the initiative. Some evaluation activities may include:
- Assessing participant change over time. This is generally done through use of a Pre and Post Evaluation Form
(surveys distributed at the beginning and end of the initiative) based on the initiative outcomes, but can also be
collected through informal and formal observations, interviews, journals, and assessments of students’
performance. - Bringing mentors together to discuss their experience and its effectiveness through interviews,
focus groups and ongoing training opportunities. Such processes also continue to build relationships with staff,
demonstrate a commitment to the quality of their mentoring experience and can promote mentor retention. - Tracking and recording relevant data. This can include how often the mentoring occurs, attendance at each of
these sessions, match activities, as well as the frequency, duration and total length of time that specific mentors and mentees interact.
It will be important to develop some evaluation tools before you begin to implement teen mentoring in your setting. These can include: charts to record consistency of attendance; journals or logs to summarize and record what happens at each mentoring session; participant feedback opportunities; pre and post evaluation forms, etc. For instance, asking participants for their feedback at regular intervals can contribute to initiative improvement and help you track changes in participants over time.
For more information regarding evaluation of your mentoring initiative, AMP partnered with the Evaluation Capacity Network and the University of Alberta to create a series of webinars. They are available here.
To log in/register:
- Enrol yourself in the 'Evaluation' section of the website (start by clicking 'Access')
- Once enrolled, go to the Evaluation section of the website and click 'Pre-Eval Webinar Series' to get started.
- After watching all 8, you will be able to access a certificate of completion back in the main 'Evaluation' page
It will be important to develop some evaluation tools before you begin to implement teen mentoring in your setting. These can include: charts to record consistency of attendance; journals or logs to summarize and record what happens at each mentoring session; participant feedback opportunities; pre and post evaluation forms, etc. For instance, asking participants for their feedback at regular intervals can contribute to initiative improvement and help you track changes in participants over time.
“We acknowledge that we are on and support Mentoring for Youth in the traditional territories across Alberta of the many First Nations from Treaty 6,7,& 8, the Métis of the 8 Alberta Settlements, and Inuit people whose footsteps have marked these lands for centuries.”