Mentoring to prevent school drop outs

American businesses have established partnerships with schools in an effort to upgrade the quality of education and increase the number of skilled workers for the future. In these partnerships, business employees act as mentors to help develop human and social capital in at-risk children beginning at an early age so that they will graduate from high school and be prepared for post-secondary education. The purpose of this study was to examine mentoring policy in two elementary schools in an urban district. Participants in the study included central office administrators, principals from the two schools, 10 fourth-grade at-risk students in each school who had been mentored for at least one year, their mentors from local businesses, their teachers, and parents. Data were gathered from interviews, documents, and observations. The successes and limitations for mentoring programs in these two schools depended on policy, implementation, school governance, and support from central office. The study provided implications for improving these programs and providing a model for future mentoring programs.