Dive Brief:

• The Idaho PTECH Network (Pathways to Early Career High School) provides personalized mentoring for students all over the state with the help of technology, including text messages and an online group similar to Facebook’s social media site.
• The Hechinger Report writes PTECH mentor Hayley Kimble has been able to get more information to and from students via text message than she can get during a phone conversation, and research has shown electronic communication tools help mentors work with more students more effectively.
• Idaho PTECH’s one-on-one mentoring program is in a pilot phase, and mentors are expected to talk to students about career goals and make strategic plans to help them reach them.

Dive Insight:

High-quality mentorship initiatives are often hard to accomplish because of the number of volunteers needed and the long-term commitment required of them. Many programs aim to pair the same student and adult mentor for multiple years as they progress through high school and go on to college. It is also challenging to match students and mentors based on field of interest, race, ethnicity or gender.

The Clayton Christiansen Institute’s director of education, Julia Freeland Fisher, said in an interview with Education Dive last year that the organization aimed to bring more attention to the value of developing social capital in schools. Getting good jobs is about who you know and helping students develop networks early should be a concern of educators at the K-12 level.