KSDE Community Partnership Project

The Kansas Department of Education proposes to form a community partnership that consists of twelve Kansas school districts in the first project year and a total of 36 over the three-year project; a multitude of businesses, community and faith-based partners; YouthFriends, a school-based mentoring program; and the Kansas Career Pipeline (KCP), a Kansas non-profit organization with the mission of providing career discovery and career development to the youth and adults of Kansas. During the first year of the project, 12 districts currently implementing school-based mentoring will be targeted, with expansion to new districts in Years Two and Three. This collaboration will increase the capacity of local communities to effectively implement, develop, and sustain school-based mentoring programs that meet or exceed all national best practice standards for safety, efficacy, and accountability for providing high-quality one-to-one and small group school-based mentoring to youth across Kansas.

The Partnership will expand school-based mentoring in Kansas by adding 24 new school districts to the mentoring network over the three-year period, with 300 new mentors and 500 students. Elements such as e-mentoring and adult mentors matched with students having career interests similar to those of the mentors will be utilized. The Partnership will focus specifically on: mentor recruitment and retention; mentor training; data collection and analysis; reduction of school drop out rates; school-level strategic plans; and education of community members. Once strong programs are in place, using KCP and YouthFriends tools, training, technology, and support; it is expected that the Kansas school districts will be able to use local partnerships formed during the grant period to sustain programming and ensure the support of long-term mentoring relationships. CA/NCF