Teacher/mentor program improving school behavior

Late last fall, Middle School Principal Thomas Sincavage looked at the discipline reports on his desk and noticed a disturbing trend. A very small percentage of students made up the majority of the building’s behavioral problems.

At the next faculty meeting, he shared his observation and proposed a solution—a teacher-student mentoring program in which individual teachers would partner with one or two of these students.

“I thought each teacher could meet one-on-one once or twice a week and just touch base to make certain that their students were keeping up with their school work and were behaving appropriately in school,” said Sincavage.

Several teachers immediately volunteered for the program.

Today, seven faculty members are working with 13 students. Together, each student/teacher pair works on setting short term, achievable goals. The goals may be as simple as completing the day’s assignments or not misbehaving for a day.

“It is not a formal thing,” explained Sincavage. “A teacher may walk past his or her student and quietly ask if that student is going to reach the agreed goal today. It lets these students know that someone is in their corner and that there is someone they can talk to.”

Since its beginning after Thanksgiving break, Sincavage says the program has taken on a life of its own. Each teacher/student pair has developed its own set of goals and rewards. He admits that this has not worked for every student, but he is beginning to see signs that several of the students are learning to monitor and control their own behavior. Over time he hopes that as students develop their self-discipline, they will no longer need the program.

“Learning to control ourselves, even in difficult situations, is an important lesson. It is an important skill we all need to be successful in our lives.”