High School Mentorship

The Issue

Dating back to the early 1900s, decades of housing discrimination by city government, banks, landlords, and realtors has created a firm division between Black and white Baltimore which continues to impact the social and socioeconomic development of the city. These internal and external practices have particularly limited Baltimoreans of color from accessing resources and opportunities for a higher quality of life.

This social isolation and lack of social capital has led to chronic absenteeism, course failure, and an increased risk of school dropout, limiting subsequent lifetime opportunities and furthering the disparities in education, health, and employment. Median earnings for high school graduates are $6,000 more than earnings for those who did not graduate. High school graduates also experience half the unemployment rate and improved health outcomes compared to individuals with lower levels of educational attainment. On the societal level, one paper found that the average person without a high school degree enacts lifetime costs of over $272,000 on the economy.

In 2011-2012, 41.3% of high school students in Baltimore were chronically absent, which is defined as students who are enrolled in school for at least 90 days and miss at least 20 days. For the class of 2021, there was a 69% 4-year graduation rate in Baltimore City Public Schools, and 41% of the class of 2020 enrolled in college.

Research shows that economic connectedness, the degree of connectedness between high and low income individuals, is a key determinant of breaking the cycle of poverty. As a result of low economic connectedness, Baltimore City’s upward income mobility ranks in the bottom one percent nationally.

Thread uses its powerful network of resources to help young people and volunteers from diverse backgrounds create strong relationships and achieve their goals. By fostering connection, appreciation, motivation, and trust, Thread is boosting educational and economic outcomes—building a more vibrant and equitable city for all.

 

The Intervention

Thread enrolls the lowest-performing ninth grade students at the lowest-performing Baltimore City Public Schools who face an abundance of challenges in and out of the classroom. Thread commits to its young people for ten years and matches them with a group of caring adult volunteers from diverse backgrounds and experiences who join one another on their personal journeys.

Thread surrounds young people with a dedicated community and resources tailored to their unique, evolving needs. A phone call, a ride to school, a gathering—anything that creates space for them to explore passions, build skills, and realize how to apply them in the world. A powerful network of programs and partners enables them to build and strengthen their connections and overcome barriers.

Thread’s model is unique because it emphasizes long-term relationship building; their goal is to provide youth who are otherwise socioeconomically isolated with access to individualized support, programs, and services to strengthen their self-efficacy and sense of agency. Their student outcomes suggest this model is working. Among Baltimore ninth graders with a GPA below 1.0, the four-year high school graduation rate is less than 10 percent. In contrast, 74 percent of students from this population who participate in Thread graduate from high school within six years. Given this encouraging upper bound for the impact of Thread, LEO will carry out a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to identify the causal impact of Thread on graduation and other youth outcomes.

Research Question

What is the impact of community-based, long-term relationships across lines of difference for underperforming students on high school completion, post-secondary enrollment, employment and criminal involvement?

Intended Outcomes

Thread's goal is to:

• Increase high school attendance in year one
• Get students back on track to graduate by year two
• Students graduate high school by year three

Research Study Design

LEO seeks to evaluate Thread’s mentorship program through a retrospective study and a prospective RCT. There are more students eligible for Thread than there are available spots in the program, so Thread began using a lottery to select youth for the program over 10 years ago. Thread’s historical use of randomization will allow LEO to conduct a retrospective study on those who have been enrolled in previous Thread cohorts. In addition, LEO and Thread will continue to randomly assign youth to either the treatment or control group in the prospective study going forward.

Those in the treatment group will receive access to the Thread mentoring program. Over the course of 10 years, students will be supported by up to four community volunteers to guide and empower them to achieve their full potential inside and outside of the classroom. If the evidence shows that Thread’s community-based mentorship program is effective in improving outcomes, this will increase Thread’s ability to expand the program and ultimately serve more individuals.

 

Learn With Us