Research Design
We anticipate that the findings from this research will be of interest to those in the academic community who conduct research on interventions, social support, therapy, and other topics regarding education, urban schools, community development, and social policy. Businesses, organizations, and universities who contributed significant numbers of mentors will be cited in the report from the study. The findings of the study, both in full and in an executive report, also should be of interest to the more than 4500 agencies that currently coordinate mentoring programs and likely will affect program practices of the Communities In Schools programs in 200 U.S. cities as well as the mentoring programs conducted in schools by other organizations (like Big Brothers / Big Sisters). Therefore, we will submit the findings directly to the major organizations currently coordinating mentoring programs in the United States, such as Big Brothers / Big Sisters of America, YMCA, and Boys and Girls Clubs of America. We will use a number of listservs to make the findings available to these audiences: the National Mentoring Database maintained by National Mentoring Partnership, the Mentoring Resource Center; and the Directory of American Youth Organizations to name a few. We will present the findings at national and international conferences.