As the nation's leading advocate and resource for direct-service mentoring programs, MENTOR works to determine the needs of the mentoring movement and find solutions to address those needs. In fulfilling that role, MENTOR has found that:

Mentoring programs need a system to track and assess data to better manage their programs, manage mentoring relationships and evaluate outcomes.

The bridge between aspirations and accountability—the key, missing piece—is a standardized and scientifically-based system for tracking and evaluating mentoring practices and outcomes. This system is called MentorPRO—for Program management, Relationship management and Outcome evaluation.

As with any youth-development intervention, it is imperative to understand why mentoring is effective and under which conditions the best outcomes occur. MentorPRO provides the mentoring community with key indicators and measures to evaluate the impact of mentoring relationships on youth. By developing the capacity for mentoring programs to measure the efficacy and impact of mentoring, MentorPRO enhances their ability to track the indicators that denote successful mentoring. The end result will be more targeted approaches to youth mentoring that is customized to specific youth populations and their needs. MentorPRO provides scientifically validated data on the necessary mentoring relationship and program elements needed to facilitate successful transitions of youth into adulthood.

It is also imperative to share that information with others in the mentoring field, so individual programs can put that information into practice. Youth mentoring outcomes are a factor of how much mentoring is taking place, along with how well the mentoring is being done. By developing scientifically sound, standardized measures, MentorPRO helps mentoring programs manage and track the implementation processes of their Programs, the quality and duration of mentoring Relationships and, ultimately, the Outcomes of the intervention.

Researchers can use MentorPRO to establish benchmarks by comparing practices and outcomes among programs and program models. Mentoring programs, in turn, are able to use those benchmarks to compare their own performance against others. And, funders can use MentorPRO to track which of their grantees serve a particular population of young people (children of incarcerated parents, children in foster care, high-school-aged youth, etc.) and which grantees are serving those populations best.

Specifically, mentoring programs can use MentorPRO to collect and analyze data in three areas: Program Management, Relationship Management and Outcome Evaluation.

Program Management. Mentoring programs will be able to use MentorPRO to:

• Track and analyze the demographic characteristics of mentors and mentees;
• Track the status of each mentor's application and screening process;
• Collect and quantify the number of hours of pre-service training each mentor has received; and
• Quantify the number of hours of ongoing training and support each mentor has received.

Relationship Management. MentorPRO will enable mentoring programs to:

• Track the matching process for every mentor/mentee pair;
• Organize and evaluate the program's current caseload, as well as its waiting list;
• Track how often mentor/mentee pairs meet and for how long;
• Assess the quality of mentoring relationships using state-of-the-art survey instruments; and
• Record and assess the duration of each mentor/mentee relationship.

Outcome Evaluation. Using standardized instruments and measures, MentorPRO will enable mentoring programs to:

• Track and assess specific academic, behavioral and emotional outcomes for mentees;
• Determine outcomes by analyzing data on program practices and mentoring relationships; and
• Gain critical insight into issues. (Such issues might include whether the actual outcomes for mentors and mentees are on target with the program goals; which aspects of the program processes are most beneficial and cost-effective and which may need adjustment; which types of mentoring relationships are proving most beneficial; and how to fine-tune programs to achieve desired results.)

For more information about MentorPRO, contact MentorPRO@mentoring.org