Strategies for Addressing Low Assessment Scores

Analyzing assessment area scores is a crucial aspect of ensuring the effectiveness and success of your mentorship program. Below, Mentor Collective offers valuable tips on where to find assessment data and offers targeted interventions to address low scores in the following areas: sense of belonging, academic self-efficacy, and academic help-seeking. 

Assessment areas vary by program design. Not sure what assessment areas are measured by your program?  Learn more here! 

Where Can I Find and Analyze Assessment Data?

Partners have access to all assessment survey data in the Partner Dashboard: 

• Assessment Tab - investigate average assessment scores for your program for all non-cognitive assessment areas measured 
• Notifications - review notifications for any participants who have recently reported average score below 3 

• Exports Page - export all assessment survey responses by participant 
• Participant Profile Page - examine an individual participant’s average score for each assessment area, and score for each survey question 

Sense of Belonging

Sense of belonging refers to feeling accepted, valued, included, and encouraged in the academic environment. It's a crucial lever for promoting student success, engagement, and well-being in college.

(Carol Goodenow and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine)

Addressing Low Sense of Belonging 

Encouraging Interpersonal Relationships 

• Promote attendance of professor’s office hours regularly
• Advise students to join student/peer groups in classes
• Encourage students to join academic/major-focused associations
• If a student doesn’t find a club/group on campus, assist in starting one for them and their peers
• Host meet-your-advisor/professor events to promote connections outside of the classroom
• Promote department led in-person activities via participant messaging or microsurveys

Supporting Academic Discipline Identity 

• Incorporate living-learning communities.
• Send targeted outreach to cohorts of students based on a program of study, found in your Partner Dashboard 
• Host events (in-person and/or virtually) for specific cohorts to connect with academically aligned members of the program
• Provide internship resources and connections 
• Address flags marked as “changing major” with advisor support to assess a students desire to change majors  

Academic Self-Efficacy

Academic self-efficacy is a student's belief in their ability to successfully complete academic tasks. It plays a vital role in student motivation, persistence, and academic performance. Self-efficacy beliefs influence students' choices, effort expenditure, and perseverance in the face of challenges. Encouraging and nurturing students' belief in their abilities is crucial for fostering a positive learning environment and enhancing educational outcomes.

(Albert Bandura and Social Cognitive Theory)

Addressing Low Academic Self-Efficacy

• Offer personalized support through one-on-one sessions with counselors or academic advisors
• Encourage mentors to utilize and share resources from the Participant Dashboard when mentees face academic challenges
• Promote tutoring or academic success office services via participant messaging or microsurveys

Academic Help-Seeking

Academic Help-seeking is a concept that explains a student's ability to identify a need for academic help, and independently seek that help through informal, formal, and institutional-based sources of academic support (Knapp and Karabenick, 1988; Makara and Karabenick, 2013). A student's ability to utilize the resources available to them to support their academic success when they face challenges is an integral factor in their overall success. An aspect to consider when thinking of proper interventions is that students who need the most support sometimes don’t feel comfortable or able to find it.

Addressing Low Academic Help-Seeking

• Incentivize attendance at office hours, academic help centers, and tutoring services
• Promote the establishment of study groups
• Offer virtual office hours for wider accessibility
• Create an academic help-seeking guide and add a custom resources to your Participant Dashboard  

Low assessment area scores do not have a one-size-fits-all solution - they require targeted interventions. These strategies provided are intended to inspire tailored solutions based on your institution, mentorship program, existing systems (i.e. monitoring and addressing flags), and student population.