Recommendations regarding school-based talent development programs (Gagné, 2015) can be particularly well-realized in mentoring. Yet, little is known about how individual and environmental conditions influence mentoring effectiveness in these contexts. To examine factors associated with mentee engagement and learning gains, we analyzed qualitative and quantitative mentor data gathered during the pilot phase of the Learning Pathway Mentoring program. The program is a structured, school-based, one-on-one mentoring intervention aimed at students (mentees) who demonstrate high potential and motivation for a specific talent domain (a school subject such as mathematics). Mentees are mentored for up to three years in their talent domain by a teacher from their school (mentor) who teaches the respective subject. Preliminary findings drawn from written reports (N = 46) and quantitative online survey data (N = 62) underline the importance of a good mentee-program-fit, as well as dyadic and environmental factors. The strongest predictors for mentor-reported mentee learning gains were concrete plans of mentee at mentoring start (r = .46, p < .001), parental support (r = .44, p < .001), and perceived similarity between mentee and mentor (r = .44, p < .001). Implications of these findings regarding the implementation of effective mentoring programs for talent development in school settings will be discussed.

References
Gagné, F. (2015). Academic talent development programs: A best practice model. Asia Pacific Education Review, 16, 281–295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12564-015-9366-9