Why Mentoring?

1
2007-2008 Developmental Mathematics Intervention A Guide to Success Jason Ramirez and Erik Scott, Highline Community College
Results for Year 1

• Why Mentoring?
• Theres More to Learn than Content
• A mentor can help students
• understand and navigate the policies and
  expectations of the college,
• become familiar with the resources available to
  help them overcome academic and personal
  obstacles,
• examine and improve their learning strategies,
  and
• define and make progress toward their academic
  goals.

• Why Math?
• The Biggest Bang for the Buck
• The algebra classes Math 91 and 97
• place the highest demand on the Tutoring Center,
• are required for nearly all students in transfer
  programs who do not place into college-level
  math,
• are consistently among the 10 highest-enrolled
  courses, and
• rank 4th and 5th, respectively, among courses
  with the largest number of students receiving
  grades below 2.0.

What Did We Do? What Did We Do?
In August 2007, mailed invitation letters to 256 students who were enrolled in a fall section of Math 91 or 97. Matched each of the 32 students who attended one of two Opening Week orientations with one of 10 faculty mentors. Mentors met with each mentee individually six times in fall and up to four times in winter. Fall mentoring sessions emphasized attributes that help students be successful in individual classes. These are described in the Transition Math Projects College Readiness Standards as Demonstrate intellectual engagement Take responsibility for your own learning Persevere when faced with time-consuming or complex tasks Pay attention to detail Winter mentoring sessions emphasized the development of a long-term academic plan.

Highline and Achieving the Dream Achieving the
Dream is a multi-year national initiative whose
focus is on student success, particularly
students who have faced significant barriers in
higher education. Highline Community College
received an Achieving the Dream grant in 2006
from the Lumina Foundation.