PMSC Mentoring Tracking Instructions for AmeriCorps Members

The Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS)—the government organization that runs AmeriCorps—defines mentoring as sustained support to children or youth through either community based programs or school based programs. For school-based programs, mentees should be matched up with mentors with the intention of continual meetings for A.) One hour per week, and B.) At least six months of one school year. For community-based mentorships, mentees should meet with the same mentor for A.) Two to three hours per week, and B.) At least 11 months. Mentorships should be a 1:1 relationship, or at most, small groups of 3 or fewer students for every adult.

The mentoring tool should only be used to track activities that fit these requirements. It is designed similarly to the tutoring tool, but there are a few differences. This document provides an overview of what the tool contains and how to use it.

General Rules about the Spreadsheet

  • No students who are tracked on the Academic Engagement tab should be tracked on the Mentoring tab. Students receiving tutoring or academic intervention should be tracked on the Academic Engagement tab, and not the mentoring tab.
  • The Mentoring spreadsheet includes five main sections: Student Information, Literacy, Math, Mentoring, and Improvement.
  • In order to create a complete and standardized spreadsheet, here are some general rules:
  • Do not add or hide rows in the middle of the spreadsheet.
  • Do not leave blank rows in between students; this makes analysis more difficult.
  • Similarly, use only one row to represent a student and all of their literacy and math tutoring for the year; do not split information into multiple rows.
  • When a column asks for a number, do not include modifying information; only put one number in the cells. (These number-based cells will be used in formulas for reporting, therefore your data will not be counted in the PMSC totals if you add non-numerical information in the cell.)
  • Do not add additional tabs to the spreadsheet.
  • Record any extenuating circumstances in “Other Notes” (column AK), but if a new column needs to be added for your own notes, place it after column AO.

At the Beginning of your Term of Service

  • At the beginning of your term of service, work with your site supervisor to determine which assessment tool and scores to use for columns J-M and P-S on the tracking spreadsheet. The supervisor will detail your site’s assessment tool information on the site supervisor form. Within each site, this assessment tool and grade level cutoffs should remain static over time, regardless of AmeriCorps member in service.
  • Based on your mentoring focus, you may choose to record only math, only literacy, or only Mentoring data – or any combination of the three.
  • An assessment tool with numeric scores should be chosen above a non-numeric score in all cases that such an assessment is available.
  • If an assessment tool provides scores on multiple measures (e.g. reading, comprehension, and vocabulary), choose only one score to represent student progress for AmeriCorps purposes.
  • An assessment tool that provides regular updates should be chosen above an annual assessment in all cases.

When a Student Begins Mentoring

  • Each row represents one student and all of their mentoring for the year.
  • Fill in the AmeriCorps member name, the student’s name, and a unique ID# for each student.
  • The ID# should be a unique number to identify each student. This could be a student ID from the school, or a random number you assign to each student.
  • Use the drop-down menu to record if the mentorship type is school-based or community-based.
  • If you are able, record whether the student has any special needs or is part of a special population.
  • If more than one apply, select the one that has the largest impact on the student’s education.
  • If you are unsure about a student’s circumstances, select “unknown”.
  • Record the Student’s K-12 grade level as a single letter or number (e.g. K for kindergarten, 6 for 6th grade).
  • Record the date that you were matched with the student for mentoring in MM/DD/YY format.
  • Enter Beginning of Mentoring Testing Information:
  • Write the name of the Assessment Tool the student used for Literacy and Math in their separate sections of the spreadsheet (columns J and P).
  • If the higher-level tool name is not descriptive enough, type the test tool version in the next column.
  • In columns K, L, U, and V, respectively - record the score on the assessment tool that would be expectedfor a student considered“at grade level” at the beginning of the year and end of year.
  • It is expected that this will vary by grade level.
  • In column AA, record how you intend to capture data about student improvement in attitude, attendance and/or homework completion. AmeriCorps members should use a teacher survey, average weekly report, and/or student records to measure a student’s improvement in these areas.

Tracking Mentoring

  • Record the average session length, in minutes for all mentoring sessions throughout the year in Column V.
  • Record the number of mentoring sessions conducted in each quarter Columns W-Z.
  • At the end of each quarter, your tracking tool will need to be submitted to the Regional Coordinator. At that time, the tool should include all information collected to date. Before submitting, make sure to:
  • Enter the number of sessions completed to date.
  • Update the average session duration, if needed.
  • To comply with student privacy regulations, data being sent to a Regional Coordinator should be de-identified. To do this, save a new copy of the spreadsheet titled “Deidentified data [site] [quarter]”, and in that new copy, delete the student names from column B, leaving column B empty/blank. Then send the deidentified spreadsheet to the Regional Coordinator.
  • Do not forget to keep the identified copy of the data for your ongoing record keeping needs.

Exiting the Program

  • If a student leaves the program:Record the last date they were in the program (“End Date”) in column H and select the reason for the match ending in column I.

At the End of Your Term of Service

  • Input the end date for all students in column H, select “End of school year” in column I for those who remained in the program.
  • Record end of year assessment scores in columns O and U for all students for whom scores are available.
  • Fill out improvement columns (AB-AD).
  • Improvement will be measured as Improved/Declined/No Change in three different categories: Attitude, Attendance, and Homework.
  • These columns will only be filled out at the end of the year, quarterly reports will not contain improvement data.
  • Only record change in the categories your site has measured, for any others select N/A.