Evaluating your project can help you learn whether it has met its goals, but only if you decide up front what you want to evaluate and how you will go about doing so. The purpose of conducting any evaluation is "to answer practical questions of decision-makers and program implementors who want to know whether to continue a program, extend it to other sites, modify it, or close it down."³ In particular, you will want to be able to show that your mentoring program does one or all of the following:

	Improves the grades or other measures of academic performance of the youth being mentored.
	Improves school attendance for those being mentored.
	Reduces rates of truancy, suspension, expulsion, and dropout for those being tutored.
	Improves mentored youth's self-esteem and confidence.
	Teaches mentors valuable communication skills.
	Teaches mentors the importance of commitment and sensitizes them to the needs, experiences, and situations of other members of their community.
	Strengthens community ties by creating opportunities for youth to work with and learn from younger and older members of the community.
	Dispels or reduces stereotypes, misconceptions, or fears that members of different age groups in the community may have held about others prior to the program.

Evaluating a peer mentoring program requires both short- and long-term perspectives. In the short term, regular check-ins with mentoring pairs and careful monitoring of recruitment and training will help to keep the program on the right path. In the long term, following up with youth who were mentored to determine how the relationship affected them can provide important data on the program's success.

In addition, both mentors and the youth being mentored should have a regular opportunity to evaluate the program. Ask them what they find most valuable and what they believe should be changed. Secure such input by administering a survey every month (or week) or by having a hotline or suggestion box available at all times. The following are examples of questions to ask both mentors and the persons being mentored when evaluating your program:

	How did the peer mentoring program help you?
	What were some of your favorite activities with the program?
	What were some of your least favorite activities?
	How did the program compare with your expectations?
	How do you think the program could be improved?
	Would you recommend this program to your peers?
	What did your mentor do especially well?
	In what areas did he or she need improvement?

In evaluating your peer mentoring program, also consider whether and how it meets the following more general crime prevention goals:

	Reduces crime or fear of crime.
	Educates and informs a target audience.
	Is cost effective.
	Has a lasting impact.
	Attracts support and resources.
	Makes people feel more positive about being a member of their school or community.

Be sure to include an evaluation step in your mentoring program's overall plan. Ask yourself what you can do to meet the many different needs of the youth being mentored and how you can recruit more mentors and provide services to a greater number of young persons in your community. Take a good look at the input you receive from mentors and the children being mentored. Then, make adjustments to strengthen your program.

Learning to evaluate the things you do is a good skill, one you can apply to all aspects of your life. Good luck with your mentoring project and -- Be a good role model!

3 National Crime Prevention Council, What, me evaluate? Washington, DC: National Crime Prevention Council, 1986.

Youth In Action Bulletin

July 1999     Number 08