The Guidance Dept.

Got a question? We have answers….

Target Groups

“I am worried that I don’t have a big enough target group.”

It is recommended that new mentors start with a goal of 5 in their target group and more experienced mentors try for at least 10. However, there is no penalty if your target group has more or less members in it.

Often there are changes which can impact the membership of a target group. What is important is what you document about the

• Pre and Post Surveys
• Learning Targets
• Vital Behaviors
• Trainings
• Benchmark data collection
• Outcomes

Imagine that each of your families is part of a vegetable garden. You are planting seeds in the ground in the fall imagining a bountiful harvest in the summer. You can control the fertilizer and water they get, you have chosen the location of the garden and the planting time. Your efforts are designed to provide maximum growth of the seeds. You can only plant one seed at a time, but that plant will grow and flourish and drop seeds for more plants to grow. Your target group is the seeds you sow.

3 Good Things to Know about Target Groups

1. Keeping your target group smaller than the number of all the families you work with in your district means you can really dig in and take the time to get to know them and help them identify goals and needs – Welcoming, Communication, Sharing Information
2. Your Target Group can become a community within your school district. That group can learn together and even better, spread their knowlege and support each other – Building Capacity
3. Having a small group makes data collection doable. – Impacting Student Outcomes

Here is more information on target groups from our data coach April Lee

Help from the Guidance Dept: Are you struggling with your planning, trainings, or reporting? Do you want to get a little sage advice while helping other mentors who might have the same question? Look no further.

Look here for “guidance” on your parent mentor questions. The topics come from your questions.

Got a question? Email us at info@parentmentors.org