Program Profile: Eye to Eye

This is a group-mentoring afterschool program in which elementary and middle school students with the diagnosis of a learning disability (LD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) meet with high school or college student mentors who also have LD/ADHD, to discuss and address their strengths and challenges. The program is rated Promising. The program was shown to be associated with statistically significant decreases in depression and increases in self-esteem over the program period.

A Promising rating implies that implementing the program may result in the intended outcome(s).

This program's rating is based on evidence that includes either 1) one study conducted in multiple sites; or 2) two or three studies, each conducted at a different site. Learn about how we make the multisite determination.

Program Goals

Eye to Eye is a mentoring afterschool program in which elementary and middle school students with a diagnosis of a learning disability (LD) or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) meet in small groups throughout the school year with high school or college student mentors who have LD, ADHD, or both. The program is designed to allow student mentors to engage in various activities to support their elementary and middle school mentees in addressing the strengths and challenges associated with LD/ADHD. The primary goal of the program is to empower younger students who have been diagnosed with LD/ADHD.

Target Population/Eligibility

The Eye to Eye program is implemented in eligible or “mentee schools,” based on the number of students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) related to LD/ADHD. These mentee schools are then matched with a “mentor school” (high school or college) that can support and recruit eligible mentors. After individual students are selected by school staff based on school documentation of LD/ADHD, they are invited but not required to participate in the program.

Program Activities

The Eye to Eye program follows an 18-session curriculum that occurs during the school year. Mentors engage in art projects and activities with specific socio-emotional objectives that are designed to build relationships and promote group discussions on the strengths and challenges associated with LD/ADHD. Activities address issues such as self-advocacy, growth mindset, and promotion of self-concept.

Key Personnel

Mentors are high school and college students (ages 16–32 years) who are recruited from identified mentor schools by staff in the special education or disability services offices. Mentors must have a diagnosis of LD or ADHD (or both) confirmed by school documentation, pass a background check, and complete a mentor application form and mentor agreement. Mentors receive in-person training from Eye to Eye coordinators; this training is several hours in duration and covers the program objectives, curriculum, and the characteristics of being an effective mentor.

Each group of mentors works with a designated student leader who serves as a coordinator at the mentor school. Student leaders are selected based on an Eye to Eye interview process and undergo an intensive 5-day training.

Program Theory

The program draws on theories that posit that mentoring can promote positive behavioral and socio-emotional outcomes by providing youth with a positive interpersonal relationship that provides social support and models adaptive strategies (Rhodes et al. 2006).

Study 1

Haft and colleagues (2019) used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the Eye to Eye program. There were a total of 231 students who participated in the study. Of this sample, 99 youth with a learning disability or attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (LD/ADHD) participated in the Eye to Eye program and comprised the mentored treatment group, 51 non-mentored (NM) youth with LD/ADHD comprised the control-NM group, and 81 typically developing (TD) youth without LD/ADHD comprised the control-TD group. The CrimeSolutions review of this study focused on the comparisons between the mentored treatment group and the control-NM group.

Participants in the treatment group were recruited from 18 mentor schools that were participating in the Eye to Eye program. Participants in the two control groups were recruited from schools that were not implementing the mentoring program but were in the same geographic regions as the mentor schools. While not matched, there were no statistically significant differences between the groups in age, gender, race, and participation in extracurricular activities. However, since the control group-TD reported a statistically significant higher family affluence, compared with the mentored treatment group and control-NM group, family affluence was controlled for in study analyses.

Across the three study groups, the average age of mentees was about 12 years, and slightly more than half were male (54 to 60 percent). There was a greater proportion of nonwhite students (53 percent) in the mentored treatment group, compared with the control-NM group (35 percent) and the control-TD group (39 percent); however, the differences were not statistically significant. There were also no statistically significant differences between the mentored treatment group students and control-NM group students in composition of diagnoses (LD, ADHD, or combined LD/ADHD).

The outcome measures were collected through self-report scales on the Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition (BASC-2), for anxiety, depression, interpersonal relations, and self-esteem. All scales were assessed with individual items rated on a 4-point scale from “never occurs” to “almost always occurs”. These scales were administered at baseline (i.e., the beginning of the program) and at the end of the program year.

To evaluate the effects of the Eye to Eye program on outcome scores, an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) was conducted across groups (mentored, control-NM, and control-TD) over time (pretest to posttest), controlling for family affluence and adjusting for multiple comparisons. Program effects were identified as statistically significant interactions between group and time and were followed up with tests for simple main effects and the computation of a Reliable Change Index (RCI). No subgroup analyses were conducted.

The national program site for the Eye to Eye program (https://eyetoeyenational.org/) indicates that implementation occurs over 18 sessions across the school year at participating schools. More implementation information can be provided by speaking with a partnerships manager and completing an interest form on the organization’s website.

Subgroup Analysis

Haft and colleagues (2019) assessed mentorship quality only for youth in the mentored treatment group using a modified version of the Quality of Mentoring Relationship Engagement Scale (Q-MRES). Results of supplemental analyses indicated that there was a statistically significant association between mentee-perceived relationship quality and improvements in depression and self-esteem scores. 

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

These sources were used in the development of the program profile:

Following are CrimeSolutions-rated programs that are related to this practice:

Mentoring for Youth Development

This practice provides youth with a positive and consistent adult or older youth relationship to promote healthy youth development and social functioning and to reduce risk factors. The practice is rated Effective in reducing delinquency and improving educational outcomes; Promising in improving psychological outcomes and cognitive functioning; and No Effects in reducing substance use.

Evidence Ratings for Outcomes

	Crime & Delinquency - Multiple crime/offense types
	Education - Multiple education outcomes
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Psychological functioning
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Cognitive functioning
	Mental Health & Behavioral Health - Social functioning
	Drugs & Substance Abuse - Multiple substances

Why might a practice's outcome ratings differ from the ratings of specific programs encompassed by that practice?