Mentoring News Post Archives - Page 2 of 5

Teaching High School Students to Build Networks of Support with the Connected Scholars Program

Elizabeth Porter2023-10-16T13:15:50+00:00

October 16, 2023, Durham, NC – Social capital, which is defined as the connections, relationships, and resources available to individuals, plays an instrumental part in college students’ academic and career success. By developing skills to locate and develop relationships with potential mentors around them, such as teachers, school staff, and employers, students may feel encouraged to stay enrolled in college classes and engaged in their academics. The process of learning and practicing skills to build social capital can begin before students even enroll in college; however, these lifelong skills are rarely taught. iRT President Dr. Janis Kupersmidt with Drs. Sarah Schwartz [...]

Teaching High School Students to Build Networks of Support with the Connected Scholars ProgramElizabeth Porter2023-10-16T13:15:50+00:00

iRT Awarded Grant to Identify Characteristics of Effective Mentors of Children of Incarcerated Parents

Elizabeth Porter2023-10-10T20:04:14+00:00

October 10, 2023, Durham, NC – iRT is pleased to announce that it has received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to explore the characteristics of effective mentors who are mentoring children of incarcerated parents (COIP). Recent reports have shown that over 2.6 million youth have an incarcerated caregiver in the United States.1 COIP often face family instability, stigmatization, and stress that may put them at risk for negative developmental outcomes. For example, research has shown that COIP may be at an increased risk for substance use in late childhood and early adolescence, including alcohol, cannabis, and [...]

iRT Awarded Grant to Identify Characteristics of Effective Mentors of Children of Incarcerated ParentsElizabeth Porter2023-10-10T20:04:14+00:00

The American Educational Research Journal Publishes the Results of an Evaluation of the Connected Scholars Program

Elizabeth Porter2023-08-24T21:03:28+00:00

August 24, 2023, Durham, NC – The college years are often a time of great change and new responsibilities, and it can be difficult for students to adjust to these new responsibilities without a diverse network of support. The connections, relationships, and resources available to students, called social capital, impact college students’ academic and career success, and it is vital that students have the skills or resources available to them to build their social capital during the college years in order to thrive. Mentoring relationships are a form of social capital and a great source of support for college students. Students [...]

The American Educational Research Journal Publishes the Results of an Evaluation of the Connected Scholars ProgramElizabeth Porter2023-08-24T21:03:28+00:00

Interactive, Web-Based Training Course for STEM Mentors: Now Available!

Elizabeth Porter2023-08-24T18:24:10+00:00

August 24, 2023, Durham, NC – iRT is proud to announce the release of a new, multimedia, interactive, web-based training course designed specifically for onboarding STEM mentors! As the numbers of youth pursuing careers or higher education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) dwindles, there is a growing need for support for youth who may be interested in STEM subject areas and careers. STEM mentoring programs play an important role in inspiring youth to explore their interests in STEM, and mentors must learn the skills and knowledge needed to provide high quality support to mentees who are underrepresented in these [...]

Interactive, Web-Based Training Course for STEM Mentors: Now Available!Elizabeth Porter2023-08-24T18:24:10+00:00

iRT Research Scientist Contributes to the Development of a Guide for Youth Seeking Mentoring Relationships

Elizabeth Porter2024-01-18T18:36:28+00:00

July 17, 2023, Durham, NC – iRT Research Scientist Dr. Rebecca Stelter is a member of a working group with other researchers from the National Mentoring Resource Center (NMRC) Research Board contributing to the development of a youth-informed guide for young people seeking or entering a mentoring relationship. The guide will soon be freely available on the NMRC website. Impactful mentoring relationships involve informed participation from both mentors and mentees as well as support from mentoring program staff and parents. Mentees must feel equally equipped for the mentoring relationship as their mentor, be informed about their role as mentee, and learn [...]

iRT Research Scientist Contributes to the Development of a Guide for Youth Seeking Mentoring RelationshipsElizabeth Porter2024-01-18T18:36:28+00:00

iRT Seeks STEM Mentoring Programs for Participation in Study of Online STEM Mentor Training Program

Elizabeth Porter2023-06-23T18:12:54+00:00

June 23, 2023, Durham, NC – Researchers from Mentoring Central, a division of iRT, are seeking STEM mentoring programs to participate in usability and feasibility studies to evaluate a new online mentor training course for STEM mentors. The new course includes an adapted version of Building the Foundation, Mentoring Central’s foundational mentor training course, that contains revised content that is relevant to STEM mentoring and new content related to how mentors can support the recruitment and retention of mentees into STEM, build cultural competency, and identify, prevent, and support mentee’s exposed to microaggressions in STEM settings. Development of this course was [...]

iRT Seeks STEM Mentoring Programs for Participation in Study of Online STEM Mentor Training ProgramElizabeth Porter2023-06-23T18:12:54+00:00

iRT President to Present at the National Institute of Justice National Research Conference

Elizabeth Porter2023-04-24T13:51:22+00:00

April 24, 2023, Durham, NC – iRT President and Senior Research Scientist Dr. Janis Kupersmidt will be presenting at the 2023 National Institute of Justice (NIJ) National Research Conference in Arlington, Virginia on May 23. Kupersmidt will present as a panelist in a conference session entitled Promoting Evidence-Based Youth Mentoring: The Benefits of Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations to discuss the results and policy implications from the evaluation of the effectiveness of implementing enhanced mentoring practices in mentoring programs serving children of incarcerated caregivers. The NIJ National Research Conference brings researchers and practitioners together from across the nation to share, discuss, and learn about [...]

iRT President to Present at the National Institute of Justice National Research ConferenceElizabeth Porter2023-04-24T13:51:22+00:00

iRT to Create New Mentor Training Course for STEM Mentoring Programs

Elizabeth Porter2023-04-03T18:40:41+00:00

April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – There are fewer and fewer youth pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) each year. In addition, there are many subgroups of youth that are underrepresented in these fields including girls, youth with a disability, youth living in a low-income family, youth who are or will be first-generation college students, youth who are immigrants or refugees, and youth from a traditionally underrepresented ethnic or racial minority group. STEM mentoring programs can play an important role in inspiring youth of diverse races and abilities, and from diverse backgrounds to pursue careers in STEM. In [...]

iRT to Create New Mentor Training Course for STEM Mentoring ProgramsElizabeth Porter2023-04-03T18:40:41+00:00

iRT Publishes Research on Mentoring Program Practices to Support Children of Incarcerated Caregivers

Elizabeth Porter2023-04-03T15:41:36+00:00

April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – As rates of incarceration in the United States have steadily climbed for the past 40 years, providing high quality support to children of incarcerated parents has become increasingly important to limit negative impacts on their self-esteem, relationships with their parents, and sense of the future, among other harmful effects. Mentoring programs can reduce negative behavioral, social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes for children of incarcerated parents by providing youth with opportunities for growth and engagement in supportive relationships. iRT conducts research on mentoring best practices to assist mentoring programs serving children of incarcerated parents and help [...]

iRT Publishes Research on Mentoring Program Practices to Support Children of Incarcerated CaregiversElizabeth Porter2023-04-03T15:41:36+00:00

Unleash Your Mentoring Program’s Full Potential with the Mentoring Central Annual Membership

Elizabeth Porter2023-04-03T15:35:01+00:00

April 03, 2023, Durham, NC – Are you looking for training programs and evaluation resources to take your mentoring program to the next level? Mentoring Central’s annual membership is your one-stop shop for access to a large array of training, evaluation, and mentoring-related products for your mentoring program. Whether your program offers Community-based mentoring, Site-based mentoring, e-Mentoring, Group mentoring, or some combination of these program models, the membership package will meet the needs of your program. With access to all of Mentoring Central’s trainings through our annual membership, you can enroll mentors, program staff, mentees, and parents or guardians of mentees [...]

Unleash Your Mentoring Program’s Full Potential with the Mentoring Central Annual MembershipElizabeth Porter2023-04-03T15:35:01+00:00