[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 134 (Thursday, September 18, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S5857]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                               MENTORING

 Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, I would like to express 
appreciation to those who volunteer their time to serve as mentors.
  A recent New York Times column by Thomas L. Friedman titled, ``It 
Takes a Mentor,'' discussed the importance of mentors to students and 
those starting careers. This article highlighted research conducted by 
the Gallup organization that underscored the significant role mentors 
can play in helping individuals achieve post-secondary education and 
career success.
  The Gallup research focused on the benefits of mentorships for young 
adults, but those advantages can also be applied to the academic and 
athletic mentor programs available to children in grades K-12.
  While policymakers and educational experts address concerns about 
whether American children will learn the skills needed to succeed in an 
increasingly competitive global economy, we should not overlook the 
role that mentors play on an individual basis to inspire K-12 students 
to set higher goals and achieve more.
  Volunteer mentors serve as positive role models who can help build 
self-esteem and confidence in youth, particularly in at-risk children. 
The best mentors endeavor to challenge students, enhance their self-
confidence, and make them excited about learning.
  I appreciate the efforts of organizations such as the Community 
Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, Tougaloo College and others 
throughout Mississippi that sponsor a variety of mentorship programs 
with missions to improve the education and wellness of children in my 
State. The individuals, college students and professionals who give of 
their time to be part of mentor programs also have my respect.
  Mr. President, as a new school year gets underway in earnest across 
the Nation, I think it is worthwhile to consider and encourage the 
benefits and rewards that come with volunteering to serve as a mentor.
  I ask unanimous consent that a copy of Mr. Friedman's column be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                [From the New York Times, Sept. 9, 2014]

                           It Takes a Mentor

                        (By Thomas L. Friedman)

       With millions of students returning to school--both K-12 
     and college--this is a good time to review the intriguing 
     results of some research that Gallup did over the past year, 
     exploring the linkages between education and long-term 
     success in the workplace. That is: What are the things that 
     happen at a college or technical school that, more than 
     anything else, produce ``engaged'' employees on a fulfilling 
     career track? According to Brandon Busteed, the executive 
     director of Gallup's education division, two things stand 
     out. Successful students had one or more teachers who were 
     mentors and took a real interest in their aspirations, and 
     they had an internship related to what they were learning in 
     school.
       ``We think it's a big deal'' where we go to college, 
     Busteed explained to me. ``But we found no difference in 
     terms of type of institution you went to--public, private, 
     selective or not in long-term outcomes. How you got your 
     college education mattered most.''
       Graduates who told Gallup that they had a professor or 
     professors ``who cared about them as a person--or had a 
     mentor who encouraged their goals and dreams and/or had an 
     internship where they applied what they were learning--were 
     twice as likely to be engaged with their work and thriving in 
     their overall well-being,'' Busteed said.
       Alas, though, only 22 percent of college grads surveyed 
     said they had such a mentor and 29 percent had an internship 
     where they applied what they were learning. So less than a 
     third were exposed to the things that mattered most.
       Gallup's data were compiled from polls of parents of 5th 
     through 12th graders, business leaders and interviews with 
     teachers, superintendents, college presidents, principals, 
     college graduates, Americans ages 18 to 34, and students in 
     grades 5 through 12. All told, ``we collected the voices of 
     close to one million Americans in the past year alone,'' said 
     Busteed, who added that he found the results ``alarming''--
     not only because too few students are getting exposed to the 
     most important drivers of workplace engagement, but because 
     there is also a huge disconnect in perceptions of the 
     problem.
       Busteed said that 96 percent of the college provosts Gallup 
     surveyed believed their schools were successfully preparing 
     young people for the workplace. ``When you ask recent college 
     grads in the work force whether they felt prepared, only 14 
     percent say `yes,' '' he added. And then when you ask 
     business leaders whether they're getting enough college grads 
     with the skills they need, ``only 11 percent strongly 
     agree.'' Concluded Busteed: ``This is not just a skills gap. 
     It is an understanding gap.''
       This comes at a time when our country faces creative 
     destruction on steroids thanks to the dynamism of technology 
     and growing evidence that climbing the ladder of job success 
     requires constant learning and relearning. Therefore, the 
     need for schools to have a good grasp of what employers are 
     looking for and for employers to be communicating with 
     schools about those skills is greater than ever.
       Some help may be on the way from Washington. Last year, 
     President Obama quietly asked Vice President Joe Biden to 
     oversee an overhaul of the government's education-to-work 
     programs after hearing from one too many employers across the 
     country that, as one White House official put it, ``they were 
     having trouble hiring workers for some of their fastest-
     growing jobs,'' such as operating sophisticated machine tools 
     or software testing and debugging.
       As they dove into the problem, said Byron Auguste, a White 
     House deputy national economic adviser, they found that the 
     success stories shared a lot of the same attributes that 
     Gallup found to be differentiating. In successful programs, 
     said Auguste, ``students got as much applied, hands-on 
     experience as possible, whether in a classroom or on a job 
     site. Schools, colleges and training centers had close 
     partnerships with regional employers, industry groups and 
     skilled trade unions to stay up to date on job-relevant 
     skills. And students or working learners got a lot of 
     coaching and guidance to understand how to trace a direct 
     path between their training today and careers tomorrow.''
       The key now is to scale those insights. The Labor 
     Department has awarded $1.5 billion in the last three years 
     to more than 700 community colleges to develop employer-
     validated training programs for new careers like natural gas 
     field work and cybersecurity. Later this month, another $500 
     million is set to be awarded as part of a kind of race-to-
     the-top for whoever can build the best community college-
     industry group partnership anywhere in the country where new 
     industries are finding gaps in the kind of workers they need.
       Employers used to take generalists and train them into 
     specialists for their industry. But fewer employers want to 
     do that today or can afford to in a globally competitive 
     economy, especially when they fear they'll train someone who 
     will then leave for a competitor. So everyone wants employees 
     out of college or technical schools who are as ready to plug 
     and play as possible. That's why government has a role in 
     fostering more and more employer-educator partnerships--this 
     is the new, new thing--which businesses, small and large, can 
     benefit from, as well as all would-be employees.

                          ____________________