69´«Ã½

School Climate & Safety

The 4 People in 69´«Ã½ Who 69´«Ã½ Are Most Likely to Call a Mentor

By Arianna Prothero — April 04, 2023 1 min read
Photo of student and mentor talking.
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Copy URL

Ask educators and they’ll tell you that their students’ motivation to work hard and try their best in school is suffering.

Eighty percent of teachers, principals, and district leaders surveyed in early 2023 by the EdWeek Research Center said that the pandemic had made their students less motivated.

Mentoring relationships are one way to boost students’ motivation and engagement in school by increasing students’ sense of belonging in school, their belief in themselves as learners, as well as their attendance. Research has also found that mentors can also lift attendance rates, test scores, and grades.

But who in schools are teens most likely to connect with as a mentor? The answer: teachers top the list, followed by school counselors, athletic coaches, and principals or assistant principals.

Fifty-four percent of 13- to 19-year-olds said they considered a teacher in their school building to be a mentor for them and 41 percent said a school counselor, according to a nationally representative survey by the EdWeek Research Center. (69´«Ã½ who took the survey could select multiple categories of people who serve as their mentors.) Interestingly, another 21 percent said a mentor was a teacher from a previous school year or semester.

But as the following chart shows, just about any adult in a school building can serve as a mentor. For example, 7 percent of students said the school security guard was a mentor, and 6 percent said the same of the school nurse.

Female students were more likely than male students to list teachers and counselors as their mentors, while male students were more likely to say that they considered an athletic coach to be a mentor.

Overall, 81 percent of students said they consider at least one adult in their school building to be a mentor. A mentor was defined in the survey as someone who provides one-on-one help with schoolwork, advice on future college or career plans, guidance on social or other personal issues, and/or a sense that students can confide in them if need be.

See also

Phil Yordy, left, works with freshman Derek Shallow, 15, right, during the Hawks Take Flight mentorship program after school at Oregon High School in Oregon, Ill., on Feb. 15, 2023. Yordy teaches world history, civics, and freshman seminar and volunteers as a program mentor.
Teacher Phil Yordy, left, works with freshman Derek Shallow, 15, right, during an after school mentoring program at Oregon High School in Oregon, Ill., in February. Yordy teaches world history, civics, and freshman seminar and volunteers as a program mentor.
Laura McDermott for Education Week

Related Tags:

Events

School & District Management Webinar Crafting Outcomes-Based Contracts That Work for Everyone
Discover the power of outcomes-based contracts and how they can drive student achievement.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Harnessing AI to Address Chronic Absenteeism in 69´«Ã½
Learn how AI can help your district improve student attendance and boost academic outcomes.
Content provided by 
School & District Management Webinar EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?
What issues are keeping K-12 leaders up at night? Join us for EdMarketer Quick Hit: What’s Trending among K-12 Leaders?

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.

Read Next

School Climate & Safety What 69´«Ã½ Need To Know About Anonymous Threats—And How to Prevent Them
Anonymous threats are on the rise. 69´«Ã½ should act now to plan their responses, but also take measures to prevent them.
3 min read
Tightly cropped photo of hands on a laptop with a red glowing danger icon with the exclamation mark inside of a triangle overlaying the photo
iStock/Getty
School Climate & Safety Opinion Restorative Justice, the Classroom, and Policy: Can We Resolve the Tension?
Student discipline is one area where school culture and the rules don't always line up.
8 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Letter to the Editor School Safety Should Be Built In, Not Tacked On
69´«Ã½ and communities must address ways to prevent school violence by first working with people, says this letter to the editor.
1 min read
Education Week opinion letters submissions
Gwen Keraval for Education Week
School Climate & Safety Opinion How One Big City District Is Addressing the Middle East Conflict
Partnerships are helping the Philadelphia schools better support all students and staff, writes Superintendent Tony B. Watlington Sr.
Tony B. Watlington Sr.
4 min read
Young people protesting with signs.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty