MATCH NEW MEXICO: TUTORING AND MENTORING CREATE HOPE 

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

     Dropout rates and failure to graduate high school and college are increasing in New Mexico, with low income and ethnic (non-Caucasian) students at greatest risk. New Mexico college graduation rates are about 10% lower than the national average. Early signs of predisposition to dropout and failure to graduate high school appear in grade three and we support the new state government initiative to ensure competency in reading ability by the end of third grade. There is growing inequality in the educational system.

     There is one successful global model countering dropout, creating readiness to promote and successful retention in the educational system: the innovation started in 1974 at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel is called PERACH which means ‘flower’ in Hebrew and is also the acronym for tutorial project. College students receive a partial scholarship in return for mentoring and tutoring children from disadvantaged groups, matching the college student’s abilities with needs of the child. Each year 60,000 vulnerable Israeli children work with 30,000 Israeli college students in a Win-Win situation. PERACH has been adapted in 21 countries. Recently PERACH spawned programs at 45 Mexican colleges and universities. There is no American or African PERACH program.

     Could New Mexico benefit from development of a responsive, responsible and rational mentoring and tutoring program? Early evaluation from a project in the College of Education at New Mexico State University using principles in parallel with PERACH says Yes in a resounding way.

     MATCH NEW MEXICO believes gifted students recognized for merit, achievement or need should give something back to their community. Scholarships, foundation awards, governmental support, and other monies should be “reinvested” in the community through good works assisting others. The best of our capable college students can reward everyone.  

     The vulnerable child gains needed attention, individual stimulation and the opportunity to excel on multiple levels. The college student receives direct financial support, gains experience and meaning while learning about social needs, and may gain direct experience in a chosen professional field of study while completing college credit. The academic center is energized by the social involvement of the students and closes the gap between ivory tower isolation and direct service to the surrounding community. Community pride with strong social values and cooperative spirit allows everyone to feel better. On a long-term basis, all of the gains blend together with shared awareness of community responsibilities.

NEXT STEPS

1. Identify and describe all existing mentoring and tutorial programs in New Mexico.

2. Begin work with the New Mexico Legislative Educational Study Committee to establish an independent coordinating office for mentoring and tutoring efforts.
3. Establish a collaborative network, linking all academic coordinators, organizations, leaders and interested individuals, to share information and shape programming.
4. Develop evaluation measures assessing program objectives from the outset.
5. Establish socially responsible curricular models for college credit.
6. Fund a reasonable number of selected New Mexico college students to be matched with vulnerable children identified by local school systems throughout New Mexico.
7. Launch MATCH NEW MEXICO.                                                                                                   

INTRODUCTION

     John Gardner, in his 1963 publication Self-Renewal: The Individual And The Innovative Society writes, “The ultimate goal of the educational system is to shift to the individual the burden of pursuing his own education.”  This burden is at the core of self-development, the stimulation of inquiry fueling growth and development and what is called scholarship in later years.

     When socioeconomic factors, instability of the family, geographic moves, migration, competition with older and stronger siblings, the inability of a parent to provide psychological closeness, sickness and social withdrawal create a gap in early growth and development, children can arrive at the pre-kindergarten level already scarred by deprivation though still hungry for the experience of a loving and available teacher. The interaction with a responsive adult can revive a child’s instinctual drive to reach out and interact, to get what is needed, to gain strength and gratify instinctual needs. Memories of a warm and loving teacher or mentor  remain with us for a lifetime.

     When continuing difficulties rule out positive corrective experiences, childhood loss and gaps in self-development leave an imprint on each successive day. The burden of pursuing education may seem out of reach. We intend to change that by developing a mentoring and tutoring program available to every child at risk, enhancing the New Mexico educational experience to the highest possible level of individual attainment.   

EDUCATIONAL DISTRESS IN NEW MEXICO

• The situation in New Mexico is very distressing. Data show increasing rates of dropout, failure to graduate high school and college, with low income and ethnic (non-Caucasian) students at greatest risk.
• Education is associated with better earning potential and higher income which enables purchase of better housing in safer neighborhoods, absence of food insecurity and healthier food consumption, health insurance coverage and more timely medical care.
• High school dropouts in New Mexico face a 13% unemployment rate and earn an average income of $11,426. Most good jobs require some certification, license, apprenticeship, associate's degree or more.
• New Mexico college graduation rates are about 10% lower than the national average.   
• Early signs of predisposition to high dropout and failure to graduate high school appear in grade three when inability to read correlates with later problems. Children who struggle with reading in early elementary school comprise 88 percent of those who do not receive a diploma. The number rises when those kids also come from poverty.
• There is growing inequality in the educational system. Families with financial security can provide tutoring to fill gaps in their child’s education, including special classes to gain higher scores in examinations. Lower income families cannot.
• Socioeconomic factors and the instability of life circumstances lead to multiple stressors for many children, who experience shame, fall behind classmates and lose hope of success.
• At the point when creativity, resilience and trust fuel confidence and scholarship, the failing individual and family may not be able to identify or express the need for help, despair giving way to social withdrawal and lost opportunity for renewal of positive life force. When unrecognized or not reversed, the path to failure becomes a pattern of negative adjustment.
• The American military reports 75% of applicants cannot enlist because they have not graduated high school, have criminal records or are physically unfit.
• Costs of social disruption in the classroom, the increasing budget for youth in the criminal justice system, the lowered income of the individual failing in the system and the loss of vital and creative people in society seem incalculable.
• Though the future of America rides on present and successive generations of our children, we continue to lose ground with an erosion of values and fragmented thrusts to fix the educational system. 

    Thousands of New Mexicans in more than one hundred programs have tried to assist the educational system with tutorial programs in sciences, mathematics, reading and language skills, before, during and after school hours. The compassionate connection between child and mentor integrates intellectual pursuits with emotional and social aspects of growth and development. Mentoring and tutoring, discussed throughout New Mexico, needs to be pulled together, recognized and supported in a statewide program. Fortunately, there is an innovative model from a global leader available.

THE NATIONAL ISRAELI TUTORING AND MENTORING PROJECT

     Imagine a college student with abilities matched with a child’s needs, a responsive person close in age to the vulnerable child, wearing the same clothes, knowing the same singers and music, skilled in text messaging on mobile phones, who becomes the model of success packaged in a friendly and available hero. Picture the child walking on the campus of the mentor’s college or university and being told, “You can do this too. I know you can be a student here soon, like me.”

     Countering dropout, creating readiness to promote and successful retention in the educational system has one successful global model, started in 1974 and tested over time: the innovation at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel is called PERACH which means ‘flower’ in Hebrew and is also the acronym for tutorial project. 

     PERACH offers an innovative solution to the growing academic and social needs of children from minority groups. College students receive a partial scholarship in return for mentoring and tutoring children from disadvantaged groups, matching the college students’ abilities with needs of the children.  Each year, 60,000 vulnerable Israeli children work with 30,000 Israeli college students in a Win-Win situation creating hope and improved outcomes.

     Israeli children assigned PERACH tutors gain academic achievements, self-esteem, motivation to study and social status. Israeli college students, who come for the scholarship money, stay on for the unique learning experiences with the children and a growing awareness of social responsibility. Multiple initiatives over the years have had amazing results including mentoring at the college level. A November 2011 report from one Israeli university concerned with a serious dropout rate between the first and second year in 2009 asked PERACH to provide mentors for the 2010 freshman class. After one year, the 2011 evaluation reveals reduction of dropout from more than 25% to 3.6%.

     Amos Carmeli, the National Director of PERACH presented at the University of New Mexico Mentoring Institute’s conference “Learning Across Disciplines” in October 2011 and summarized: “Globalization and modernization have led to masses of immigrants, working from early morning till late at night, hoping to improve their lives in a foreign country, while uprooting their children from their natural environment leaving them to face new and strange language and culture all alone.

          “These children, and children from one parent families, are more susceptible to living in conditions of poverty and neglect (physical and intellectual) and face an immediate danger of school dropout and entering the circles of drug and crime. In many countries today, multicultural societies are facing a growing inequality rooted in the educational system. Whereas financially established families are able to enrich their children's lives and knowledge with after-school classes and to provide their children with assistance in tutoring, low-income families cannot. This inability of low-income parents to provide enrichment and help for their children makes it impossible for the children to break the circles of poverty, leaving them with a sense of despair, frustration and low self-esteem.”

     PERACH has been adapted in 21 countries. Recently PERACH has spawned programs at 45 Mexican universities. There is no American or African PERACH program.

     Many New Mexico students are lost in the crowd of the classroom and street missing the enthusiasm, support and connection of one person who cares and guides the child into a learning experience, a pathway of renewal. The disadvantaged and at-risk child is getting behind, starting to drift, and losing ground each passing day. In contrast to blossoming and succeeding, the failure to thrive begins a downhill slide. Deterioration can be reversed with early intervention. If there is no identification of the despair and withdrawal, a detachment will encapsulate the child and become irreversible.

     We intend to change that situation with a PERACH-like program matching a bright and capable New Mexico college student with a vulnerable New Mexico child in a program called MATCH NEW MEXICO.

THE FACTS

There are nine core issues shaping the organizing principles for MATCH NEW MEXICO.

1. The World Economic Forum ranks the American educational system 26th in the world, well behind those of countries like Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark, Canada and Singapore. In science and math, we score even worse. As American education has collapsed, the median wages of the American worker have stagnated, and social mobility—the beating heart of the American dream—has slowed to a standstill.
2. Completing education is associated with better earning potential and higher income which enables purchase of better housing in safer neighborhoods, absence of food insecurity and healthier food consumption, health insurance coverage and more timely medical care.
3. Not completing education reverses all the benefits of the preceding point, adding complications and costs of social and health problems. Not graduating from high school is associated with increased rates of substance use, pregnancy, psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems. For adolescent females, teenage pregnancy is the leading reason for not graduating; an estimated 30%-40% of female teenaged dropouts are mothers. Early parenting also affects young males who leave school to support a child. Mental illness and emotional disturbance account for a significant proportion of students who don't graduate.
4. Poverty heightens risk of not achieving higher educational goals and lowered income levels in households with students highly represented in New Mexico have an added impact on low graduation rates. The rural population of New Mexico deserves special attention, especially when one in five rural households are defined as being in poverty with a growing rate of food insecurity.
5. High school dropouts in New Mexico face a 13% unemployment rate and earn an average income of $11,426. Though some jobs in technical areas such as computers may pay reasonable salaries, nearly every good job requires some certification, license, apprenticeship, associate's degree or more.
6. New Mexico is failing at both high school graduation and college graduation. Data from the state and federal sources illustrate New Mexico is among the worst states in the country with college graduation rates about 10% lower than the national average. 
7. The populations most at risk in not graduating high school or college per group are low income and ethnic (non-Caucasian) students. NM has a much higher percentage of these populations than the country as a whole.
8. Students who do not read proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma when compared to proficient readers. The number rises when those kids also come from poverty. Students who struggle with reading in early elementary school comprise 88 percent of those who did not receive a diploma.
9. Preparation for educational success begins in early childhood using every support program available. Successful college students, as role models mentoring and tutoring high-risk children can improve and integrate reading skills at the grade three-level and above.

     Statistical data related to our students appear in Appendix A. Factual summaries on work-life and average earnings, populations most at risk for not graduating, education and employment figures, and critically important household-level food insecurity and very low food security percentages are presented. One example is presented below.

New Mexico Public Education Department

4-Year Cohort High School Graduation Rates*, Class of 2010*

Group	Records	Rate (%)
All Students	26,490	67.3
Female	12,895	72.0
Male	13,595	62.8
Causcasian	7,863	75.6
African American	616	62.1
Hispanic	14,394	64.1
Asian	351	83.9
American Indian	3,266	60.5
Econonomically Disadvantaged	14,089	64.1
Students with Disabilities	5,209	66.0
English Language Learners	9,271	60.8

*Certified 8/30/11

*Graduation Rates are the percentage of students that graduated on time, which begins when the student is first in the 9th grade.

GRADE THREE AS PIVOTAL POINT

     Research demonstrates students who can't read by the end of 3rd grade fail and drop out in high school at a much higher rate than skilled readers. The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports on "Double Jeopardy: How Third-Grade Reading Skills and Poverty Influence High School Graduation," by Donald J. Hernandez.

• 16% of children who don’t read proficiently by third grade won’t graduate from high school on time — four times higher than the rate for proficient readers.
• 26% of children who don’t read by third grade and live in poverty for at least one year won’t graduate on time.

     Hernandez says, “Third grade is a kind of pivot point... We teach reading for the first three grades and then after that children are not so much learning to read but using their reading skills to learn other topics. In that sense if you haven't succeeded by 3rd grade it's more difficult to remediate.”

     The Annie E. Casey Foundation 2010 report “Reading on Grade Level in Third Grade: How Is It Related to High School Performance and College Enrollment?” includes important data. The proportion of students who are below grade level is highest for male students, for African American students, and for students who ever spent time in the foster care system. Forty-two percent of male students were below grade level (compared to 34% of females), 44 percent of African American students and 33 percent of Latino students were below grade level (compared to 18% of white students), and 52 percent of students who ever spent time in foster care were below grade level (compared to 38% of the overall population).

     The Casey report notes third-grade reading level is a significant predictor of eighth-grade reading level. Eighth-grade reading level is related to ninth-grade school enrollment and course performance. Eighth-grade reading achievement and the ninth-grade school a student attends explain differences in graduation and college enrollment rates.

     The sooner struggling readers are targeted for supports, the easier it will be to ensure students are progressing on course toward strong performance in ninth grade, high school graduation, and college enrollment.        

ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL

     The struggling student at the grade three level and college performance are linked in this discussion by reading skills with the individual attention of mentoring and tutoring a key to success. There is no clearer example of an opportunity for potential success than the young reader and a listening mentor providing support, instruction and stimulation, one to one interaction, word-by-word individual learning. Increasingly, mentoring and tutoring becomes the vehicle for change within the agenda of higher education. So consider programming at one New Mexico campus leading the way.

     Among faculty meeting with Amos Carmeli of the Israeli program PERACH during a site visit to New Mexico State University, Denise Rodriguez-Strawn, M.A., the Service Learning Programs Coordinator, discussed projects based in Las Cruces and describes work in the following way: “Undergraduate and graduate students can participate in service learning opportunities, which include tutoring and fulfilling other roles with non-profit organizations.  In all cases, the students serve as important mentors in the lives of the young students they work with. They help children to see that college is a possibility…
I believe that the project and programs are innovative and because of the collaboration of all parties, we are a solution for growing academic and social needs of K-12 and university students. I also believe that the Service Learning for Educational Distinction Program with tutors/mentors provides K-12 students with strong role models, creating a world of ‘I can’ and ‘I will’ instead of thinking that higher education is beyond their reach because of poverty, lack of financial resources, etc.

     “In 2007, 
Mary Prentice, Associate Professor of Educational Management and Development (assisted by her then graduate assistant, Denise Rodriguez-Strawn) started the College’s Service Learning for Educational Distinction program with 19 students working with 27 teachers in the Las Cruces Public Schools.  Prentice’s goal was to provide students with educational opportunities in community service through placement in educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and advocacy groups.”

     The program is very successful and growing. Rodriguez-Strawn has been program coordinator the past four years. Recent grants and awards are developing and supporting a variety of activates serving more than 350 students a semester with thousands of hours of service learning reaching out to high school students in the Las Cruces Public Schools and in the Gadsden Independent School District. There is more to come. Students at Dona Ana Community College will be offered the same service learning experiences as students on the main New Mexico State University campus.

     Strength in programming on each college and university campus is responding to need and success breeding increased interest.

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT OF MATCH NEW MEXICO

     The Project Directors of HiddenFromView, a nonprofit educational research organization registered in New Mexico, encountered the Israeli PERACH program based at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot in 2009 while working under the auspices of the Albuquerque Sister Cities Foundation. John R. Graham and Etti E. Benvenisti developed an original video production “Winning Connections” about PERACH and started discussion of the educational innovation in 2010. In 2011, HiddenFromView made arrangements for the New Mexico visit of Amos Carmeli, National Director of PERACH. Fourteen persons were appointed to an Organizing Committee meeting for ten hours, then completing this report.

     During a two-week October-November 2011 visit in New Mexico, Amos Carmeli presented at an international conference sponsored by the Mentoring Institute at the University of New Mexico, gave a public lecture in Albuquerque, and participated in discussions, site visits and conferences in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Cruces. A video of Amos Carmeli’s public presentation “60,000 Vulnerable Kids and 30,000 College Students: An Israeli Investment in Education” with Rick Miera, Chair of the New Mexico Legislative Educational Study Committee as discussant and the “Winning Connections” production are available for viewing at the HiddenFromView website.

     Site visits and discussions described and prioritized planning issues for MATCH NEW MEXICO. The discussion topics highlighted below are discussed in Appendix B and then program benefits are summarized. 

• Identify The Decision Makers, Interest Groups And Stakeholders
• Earliest Possible Intervention With Children At Risk
• Reinvesting in the Community: Social Commitments And Finances
• Successful College Students As Mentors And Tutors  
• Identifying Needs Of The Vulnerable Child
• Matching Mentor And Mentee
• Educational Model Focused On Mentor/Tutor Learning Including Supervision
• Anticipating Special Problems
• Community Study Center

     MATCH NEW MEXICO will benefit from the close working connection with PERACH.

All educational materials will be shared openly. We anticipate the Israeli WIN-WIN advantages will be documented in an adaptation of their success model with a community-based program in New Mexico.

  

USING EVERYTHING THAT WORKS  

     We do not know of any societal issue with a single best way of solving problems. Alternatives are always available. Developing and integrating all resources available creates the optimal use of community resources.

     There are multiple programs at the Pre-K level including the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program and other preschool, grade-one and two options. We believe in using everything that works and value all individuals and organizations responding to needs at all levels of child growth and development.

     We believe strengthening of our communities benefits from church, government, civic, business, corporate and private foundation initiatives and welcome the involvement of other community-based organizations.

EVALUATION RESEARCH

     The next step in planning will require resource people to describe the mission, define educational objectives and learning experiences, and then specify evaluation criteria that will serve two purposes. Most observers will see the obvious need to evaluate success in achieving the objectives of the program. Less obvious will be the evaluation measures providing the learner with a self-evaluation tool, measuring the learner’s progress toward the desired outcomes of the learning experience. Evaluation reinforces the learner-focused activity.

     We hope evaluation will describe criteria matching the child and student with anything measureable in outcome evaluation. We hope personal and individualized goals of the vulnerable child will be integrated allowing the child to see their own progress annually.

NEXT STEPS

     What can and cannot, should and should not be doneis an evolving question for planners and program participants. This report is an entry to discussion and development of the next planning stage. We wish to stimulate program development with our initiative but have no wish to control or direct the program. In addition, we will remain involved helping organizational work until appropriate recommendations are set in motion.

Recommendations

1. Identify and describe all existing mentoring and tutorial programs in New Mexico. We support the statewide College Access Program Inventory currently in progress by College Access Network, New Mexico funded by the Kresge Foundation and National College Access Network directed by Executive Director, Natalie Sanchez. 
2. Begin work with the New Mexico Legislative Educational Study Committee to establish an independent coordinating office for a developing MATCH NEW MEXICO program supporting statewide mentoring and tutoring efforts.
3. Establish a collaborative network, linking academic coordinators at each New Mexico college and university, all organizations, leaders and interested individuals, with the intent of sharing information and shaping program development. The goal of networking includes adapting a PERACH-like model based at colleges and universities serving differing populations and using the diverse strengths of the participating institutions, without decreasing tuition revenues.
4. Develop evaluation measures assessing program objectives to define strengths and liabilities of the developing system from the outset.
5. Establish socially responsible curricular models for college credit on mentoring and tutoring using the college student’s experience in the community service model.
6. Fund a reasonable number of selected New Mexico college students to be matched with vulnerable children identified by local school systems throughout New Mexico.
7. Launch MATCH NEW MEXICO creating alliances and partnerships that encourage open and flexible programming in a continuing renewal process.

Respectfully,

2011 Organizing Committee,

HiddenFromView, a New Mexico nonprofit educational research organization.

Contact Person: John R Graham, MD

abqparadox@comcast.net   

 

Appendices

A. Statistical Data Supporting THE FACTS

B. Discussion Points for Program Development

C. Participants Contributing Time, Energy and Expertise

  

APPENDIX A

STATISTICAL DATA SUPPORTING OUR FACTS

 

                   Work-Life Earnings for Full-Time Employees (in $ millions)

Work-Life Earnings for Full-Time Employees (in $ millions)
Professional Degree	$4.4
Doctoral Degree	$3.4
Master's Degree	$2.5
Bachelor's Degree	$2.1
Associate's Degree	$1.6
High School Graduate	$1.2
Some High School	$1.0
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1998, 1999, & 2000

 

Average Annual Earning for College Graduates and Non-Graduates
Professional Degree	$109,600
Doctoral Degree	$89,400
Master's Degree	$62,300
Bachelor's Degree	$52,200
Associate's Degree	$38,200
Some College	$36,800
High School Graduate	$30,400
Some High School	$23,400
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1998, 1998 & 2000

New Mexico Public Education Department

4-Year Cohort High School Gradation Rates, Class of 2010*    

Group	Records	Rate (%)
All Students	26,490	67.3
Female	12,895	72.0
Male	13,595	62.8
Caucasian	7,863	75.6
African American	616	62.1
Hispanic	14,394	64.1
Asian	351	83.9
American Indian	3,266	60.5
Econmically Disadvantaged	14,089	61.3
Students with Disabilities	5,209	66.0
English Language Learners	9,271	60.8

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1998, 1999 & 2000

 

     Graduation Rates are the percentage of students that graduated on time, which begins when the student is first in the 9th grade. Prior to 2008, rates are the percentage of seniors that graduated by the end of the year. Rates 2007 and earlier are not comparable to 2008 and later.

     In New Mexico, close to 50% of recent high school graduates enroll in remediation their freshman year of college; nationwide, 41% of employers are dissatisfied with high school graduates' ability to read and understand written material. To make matters worse for NM: 45% of jobs will require at least an associate's degree by 2018, up from 37% in 1992.

     Education completion rates further illustrate the dire situation in New Mexico. New Mexico’s colleges and universities have lower than expected graduation rates, For example, the University of New Mexico 6 year graduation rates are 45.1% contrasted with the national average for public institutions of 55.1%.

Populations Most At-Risk In Graduating

     The populations most at risk in graduating from high school and college are low income and ethnic (non Caucasian) students. With the exception of the elevated rates of Asian student graduation rates, the table above with 2010 Cohort high school graduation rates shows major ethnic and racial groups in New Mexico are 11-15% below graduation rates of Caucasian students. Low-income students, highly represented in New Mexico have an added impact on low graduation rates.

NM vs. US Students 2009-2010

	NM	US
Total Students	334,419	49,866,700
% low income	65.2	45.9
% limited English profiency	15.4	9.5
% with disabilities	13.7	13.2

NM vs. US Schools 2009-2010

	NM	US
Total Schools	826	93,114
Total # of Public Schools Making AYP Percent	183 (22.2)	56,230 (60.4)
Total # Schools in Need of Improvement (percent)	410 (49.6)	56,230 (17.1)
Total # Schools in Restructuring	229 (27.7)	6,657 (7.1)
New Mexico's Indicator Information System (NM-IBIS) Updated 07/13/2011)

Education Completion

     Dropping out of high school is no longer an option. High school dropouts in New Mexico face a 13% unemployment rate and earn an average income of $11,426. Now, nearly every good job requires some certification, license, apprenticeship, associate's degree or more.

     Education level is strongly related to health status for a variety of reasons. Education is associated with better earning potential and higher income which enables purchase of better housing in safer neighborhoods, purchase and consumption of healthier food, health insurance coverage and more timely medical care. Persons who have clear goals and a sense of control over their own lives tend to have both a higher education level and better health (Lachman ME and Weaver SL. The sense of control as a moderator of social class differences in health and well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998 Mar; 74(3):763-73).

     Short-term health problems associated with not graduating from high school include substance use, pregnancy, and psychological, emotional, and behavioral problems. For adolescent females, teenage pregnancy is the leading reason for not graduating; an estimated 30% - 40% of female teenaged dropouts are mothers. Early parenting also affects young males who leave school to support a child. Mental illness and emotional disturbance also account for a significant proportion of students who don't graduate (Freudenberg N and J Ruglis. Reframing school dropout as a public health issue. JPrev Chronic Dis.2007 Oct; 4(4): A107).

     The rural population of New Mexico deserves special attention, especially when poverty heightens risk of not achieving higher educational goals and when geographic distances add another layer of complication in mentoring and tutoring in person.               

 Education Completion (Persons 25 and older)

                              Percent not completing High School

Year	Rural*	Urban	Total
1980	36.7	27.4	31.1
1990	30.8	21.3	24.9
2000	25.4	18.7	21.1

                                  Percent completing High School Only

1980	35.0	33.9	34.1
1990	30.4	27.7	28.7
2000	9.0	25.2	26.6

                                   Percent completing some college

1980	15.4	18.3	17.1
1990	24.2	27.0	25.9
2000	28.4	29.1	28.8

                                    Percent completing college

Employment reflects drops that impact the ability of those populations to improve their lot.

                             Total Number of Jobs  

 

2008	345,092	757,797	1,102,889
2009	339,095	733,904	1,072,999

                             Percent employment change

2007- 2008	1.2	0.8	0.9
2008- 2009	-3.1	-4.0	-3.7
2009- 2010	-0.2	-0.4	-0.4

                              Unemploment rate (percent)

2009	6.9	7.0	7.0
2010	8.2	8.5	8.4

Economic Research Service, State Fact Sheets: New Mexico. Updated 10/27/11

 

Income Levels In Rural Vs Urban Settings

     Looking more directly at the income levels of those in rural vs. urban settings, we find significant evidence that New Mexico has a low overall income level with an even lower rural income.

                                              Per Capita (2009 dollars)

Year	Rural*	Urban	Total
2008	30,664	34,908	33,475
2008	30,623	34,600	33,267
% change	-0.1	-0.9	-0.6

 

                       Poverty Rate (percent-latest model-based estimates)

1979	20.5	15.7	17.6
1989	25.0	17.8	20.6
1999	22.3	16.2	18.4
2009	20.6	17.1	18.2

     One in five rural households are defined as being in poverty. Adding to the poverty is the growing rate of food insecurity.

Household-level Food Insecurity and Very Low Food Security

% of households	2002-04	2005-07	2008-09 Avg.
Food Insecure*	15.8	15.0	15.4
Very low food  security	4.9	4.9	5.6

*Low food security:Reports of reduced quality, variety, or desirability of diet. Little or no indication of reduced food intake.

**Very low food security: Reports of multiple indications of disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.

 

APPENDIX B

DISCUSSION POINTS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

Identify The Decision Makers, Interest Groups And Stakeholders

     We value every individual and organization initiating work in repairing and enhancing the New Mexico educational systemat every level. At least 85 tutoring and mentoring programs have been identified in New Mexico with a descriptive study now underway directed by Natalie Sanchez, Executive Director of College Access Network, New Mexico, funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. We believe the number will increase as the study progresses and new contacts are found. Thousands of individuals have been involved in programs addressing special needs and interests. Every initiative is needed in New Mexico.

     Access to available programs will be improved by a comprehensive database linking statewide programming options. Multiple initiatives by school systems, higher academic institutions, special interest groups, government agencies, private business organizations and others have specific topics and target groups. An open system sharing information is needed. 

 

Earliest Possible Intervention With Children At Risk

     MATCH NEW MEXICO is aware of multiple programs that begin during mother’s pregnancy, infancy, early childhood, preschool programs and tutoring and mentoring programs at kindergarten, first and second grade levels. PERACH research demonstrates college students start to have a positive impact beginning with students at 3rd grade and above. We assume New Mexico students will have significant impact on our low income, rural, ethnic non-Caucasian populations and recommend college students as mentors and tutors begin work with children age eight and older. Mentors and tutors can begin with something as simple as reading to the child to awaken interest and build the language readiness needed to take advantage of reading instruction available in the school.

     Since reading skills are so crucial to success, MATCH NEW MEXICO mentors will be asked to check the reading skills of all children involved at every level.

 

Reinvesting in the Community: Social Commitments And Finances

      “Where are you going to find the money to assist college students with tuition?” This Committee discussed various alternative funding sources including business, government, philanthropy, foundation, work-study and internship sources. Scholarships were discussed in detail as a learning experience in social values and community commitment. The PERACH model with funding coming from multiple sources follows the axiom of American economist Milton Friedman saying, “There is no free lunch.”

     When a bright young person with intellectual gifts and the capacity to help others gains financial support, there is an opportunity to learn more about values, social needs and satisfaction when serving others. When given the opportunity, returning the gift using one’s abilities enriches the college experience.

     MATCH NEW MEXICO believes gifted students recognized for merit, achievement or need should give something back to their community. Presidential scholarships, foundation awards, governmental support, and other monies should be “reinvested” in the community through good works assisting others.

 

Successful College Students As Mentors And Tutors  

     Each year 50,000 college and university students in Israel apply for the PERACH scholarship opportunity. Every applicant is interviewed. Following a security check, the abilities and demographics of the students lead to individualized awards to 30,000 college and university students who enter the program. Initial orientation and training precedes weekly supervision, seminars and on-the-job training. The option of a credit course in the PERACH model of Mentoring and Tutoring is available in selected university centers.

     The assignment of mentor to a child produces a wave of expectation. If the meeting occurs in a quiet, private setting with a child having uninterrupted attention for two hours, it is probably the most time any one person has focused on the needs, interests and accomplishments of the child ever. What a gift is given. Then the connection repeats twice weekly. Mentoring with learning through play, within a safe, predictable and trusted connection is life giving.

     We recommend studies of effective mentors be summarized and developed as measureable criteria for selection of compassionate and responsive students during the application and selection process. We wonder whether there are any age constraints on mentors or is being in college enough?

     Surveys of Israeli college students reveal financial need attracts them to PERACH but the enriching experience, the challenge of new social learning and feeling of value are sustaining factors leading them to return the following year. The service learning experience may be a factor in retention of the mentor as student on his or her own career pathway when stimulated by experiential learning in the mentoring and tutoring activity.

 

Identifying Needs Of The Vulnerable Child

     When needs of the child, in the family, in their community are identified and a remedial plan is written, referral to a mentoring and tutoring program will begin.  The classroom teacher cannot meet all the individual needs and system requirements. If children are to be valued, we will find more clinical professionals providing direct service.

 

Matching Mentor And Mentee

     PERACH coordinators maintain a list of available mentors with description of their abilities and attributes. The needs of the child are matched to the abilities of the mentor. Research demonstrates success in outcome with only 5% of children dropping out of the mentoring/tutoring relationship. 

     There is general acknowledgement that people of similar backgrounds do better in a working relationship than people of differing backgrounds. Mentors may have a preference for a certain match by gender, age, temperament, ethnicity or socioeconomic status.

     Transportation, especially in a rural state like New Mexico will be a challenge.  Connections within walking distance in neighborhoods are limited.

     MATCH NEW MEXICO model will build in data collection on making the most effective “fit” of child and student in the program evaluation.

     We recommend an evaluation after six meetings to assess the relationship. If something is not working there should be the option of change, thus taking away any pressure of making it work or losing the potential benefits of a relationship.

 

Educational Model Focused On Mentor/Tutor Learning Including Supervision

     PERACH has multiple curricular outlines preparing the college student for work in mentoring and tutoring that are of interest and available to educators in New Mexico. All materials will be reviewed and summarized as entry to curriculum development. Since educators in this field are open to shared development of best practices, a coordinated and standardized methodology should be developed sharing materials from academic programs in New Mexico.

     Course work and experiential learning experiences should be designed with a learner-focused model, reinforcing the nature of the mentoring and tutoring orientation. The college student will bring needs, interests, past experiences and examples from actual learning experiences to fuel the classroom interaction.

     Though beyond the scope of this report, an evolving network of educators using prior experience in curriculum design should consider seminar content and staging, college credits, development of standardized materials for a possible training manual, use of expert consultants from related fields, etc. Techniques from related fields such as business, education, mental health professions and other disciplines using supervision and on-the-job training may inform best practices in the teaching and learning of skills.

 

Anticipating Special Problems

     Another topic beyond the Committee scope of work involves anticipating potential problems in advance. A not good enough “fit” between child and mentor may occur and building in review and management techniques will benefit the program, probably improve the success of matching also.

     Saying goodbye in a constructive manner when the mentoring and tutoring relationships are real can be difficult and should be discussed openly. Coming to an end of the week-to-week connections should be one discussion on actual cases in any course or supervision. 

     Discussion of mentor and student meetings in a public place rather than alone in a “private” place brought the issues of boundary violations. Taking over for a child, not encouraging autonomy, using the child for personal needs, and entering into intrusive intimacies must be discussed in classroom and supervision. The nearly 40 years of Israeli experience does not suggest there is a problem. However, specific policy should be stated, a personal declaration signed by the mentor/tutor and specific locations documented where meetings occur.

 

Community Study Centers

     Communities in Israel and other countries having the benefit of PERACH programming have been expected to make a supervised study center available for after school hours. This location may be in a school, a public building or local business. A quiet setting for study, the option of a computer center sponsored by business and a secure comfortable room with desk space adds to the safety, support and stimulation of working alongside others.  We recommend communities developing a program be asked to plan a suitable facility and have volunteers or employees available to provide adult supervision during specified hours. 

 

In Summary

     We see a broad benefit to everyone, set in motion by the bright and capable young men and women of New Mexico. MATCH NEW MEXICO believes gifted students recognized for merit, achievement or need should give something back to their community. Scholarships, foundation awards, governmental support, and other monies should be “reinvested” in the community through good works assisting others. The best of our capable college students can reward everyone.

     The vulnerable child gains needed attention, individual stimulation and the opportunity to excel on multiple levels. The college student receives direct financial support, gains experience and meaning when learning about social needs, and may gain direct experience in a chosen professional field of study while completing college credit. The academic center is energized by the social involvement of the students and closes the gap between ivory tower isolation and direct service to the surrounding community. Community pride with strong social values and cooperative spirit allows everyone to feel better. On a long-term basis, all of the gains blend together with shared awareness of community responsibilities.

 

APPENDIX C

 

PARTICIPANTS CONTRIBUTING TIME, ENERGY AND EXPERTISE

 

Organizing Committee MATCH NEW MEXICO:

 

Paula Amar Schwartz, Ph.D., Retired Psychologist

 

Etti E. Benvenisti, Ph.D., Project Director, HiddenFromView

 

Judith Brillman MD,

Professor Emeritus, University of New Mexico, School of Medicine

 

Ellie Edelstein, M.A. Education, Teachers College, Columbia University, Former Educator in Math and Science at Junior High level

 

Chris Gelina, B.S. Ed, M.B.A., retired from Albuquerque Public Schools

B.S. Ed, M.B.A, retired APS

 

John Graham, MD CM FRCPC FAPA, Project Director, HiddenFromView

Chair, 2011 Perach Organizing Committee

 

Marge Lazar, Academic Program Analyst, Office of the Chancellor, California State   University, 1966-1994; Chair, HaMakom Continuing Education, 2006—present.

 

Susan Paine, M.P.H., Senior Scientist, University of New Mexico

 

Don Peterson, Ph.D., retired from Sandia National Laboratories

 

Noel Pugach, Ph.D, Professor Emeritus, Department of History, University of New    Mexico

 

Malcolm Siegel, Ph.D., M.P.H, Environmental Geochemistry and Epidemiology

Division of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Dept. of Internal Medicine,

School of Medicine, University of New Mexico; LIS Consulting, Inc.

 

Rae Siporin, Ph.D., Director Emeritus, Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with  Schools. University of California Los Angeles.

 

Judith Smith, M.A. Ed.S

 

Judith Weinstein, Executive Director, HiddenFromView

 

 

We wish to give thanks to the following persons for their contribution of time and expertise to the gathering of information for this report:

 

Amos Carmeli, National Director of PERACH, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel

 

Dean Garrey Carruthers, Ph.D, College of Business, New Mexico State University

 

Robert Eisenstein, Director, Santa Fe Alliance for Science

 

Jill Douglass, M.A. LPCC, Associate Vice President, Academic Support and Student Retention,     Santa Fe Community College

 

John Geier, Junior Achievement, Santa Fe

 

Sharon Gordon-Moffett, Director of Service Learning, Phi Theta Kappa & Skills USA, Central New Mexico College

 

Representative Rick Miera, Chair of Education and Legislative Education Study Committees

 

Dean Michael A. Morehead, EdD, College of Education, New Mexico State University

 

Margaret Odell, Director of Career Services, St. Johns University, Santa Fe

 

Helen Pacheco, Santa Fe Public Schools Volunteer Coordinator

 

Denise Rodriquez-Strawn, M.A., Field Experience/Co-op/Service Programs Coordinator,

 New Mexico State University

 

Natalie Sanchez, Executive Director of College Access Network New Mexico

 

Gerald Snyder, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Santa Fe University of Art and Design

 

Lis Turkheimer, MA, Director, Assistance Centers for Education, New Mexico College