Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

The content of curricula and training in developmental mentoring reflects the primary goal of promoting youths connectedness to school and connectedness to their parents (Karcher 2005). Mentoring curricula exists in the form of many high school programs. One such program is the Believe It Or Not I Care (BIONIC) program. This quantitative study examined the various components of the BIONIC program, specifically within 20 Colorado schools who utilized the BIONIC program during the 2013-14, 2014-15, and 2015-16 school years. Additionally, 20 control Colorado schools who did not implement the BIONIC program were paired with the 20 BIONIC schools through a comparison of each schools diversity, population, geographic location, socioeconomic status, and special needs and academically talented student populations. The 20 BIONIC and 20 control schools were compared in an independent samples t test to examine the BIONIC programs impact on attendance rates, graduation rates, truancy rates, out-of-school suspension levels, and expulsion levels, as defined by existing state data from Colorados state report card. The results of the independent samples t test found that there were no significant differences between the 20 BIONIC schools and the 20 control schools in attendance rates, graduation rates, truancy rates, out-of-school suspension levels, or expulsion levels. Accordingly, all five null hypotheses were accepted. As a result there are a number of suggestions for further research to expand on or to create a new study to reexamine the BIONC peer mentoring program and its impact on students.

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