Transition-to-Success Mentoring Act
The Transition-to-Success Mentoring Act would add a new program under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to fund school-based mentoring for at-risk middle school students as they move to high school. Eligible entities (generally local school districts or partnerships with nonprofits) could receive grants to establish or expand mentoring programs that pair each student with a “success coach.” The coach would work with the student, parents, and school staff to create and implement a Year-by-Year Plan for Success focused on academics, personal development, college/career exploration, and behavior supports. The program emphasizes trauma-informed practices, parental engagement, inclusive practices for students with disabilities, and strong connections to postsecondary and workforce opportunities, including internships and partnerships with local businesses. The bill also sets grant priorities, outlines allowed and required uses of funds, imposes reporting requirements, and includes coordination with federal mentoring resources. Grants would last up to five years, with annual and progress reporting to Congress. Overall, the aim is to improve middle school students’ transitions to high school, reduce risk factors (e.g., discipline issues, truancy), and expand access to college and career readiness opportunities.
Key Points
- 1Creates a new Subpart (Transition-to-Success Mentoring Program) under Part D of Title I of the ESEA to fund school-based mentoring for at-risk middle school students transitioning to high school.
- 2Eligible entities include local educational agencies (LEAs) that receive Part A funds or are high-need LEAs, or LEA–nonprofit partnerships; eligible students are middle school students who are at risk.
- 3Each eligible student is assigned to a “success coach” who creates a jointly developed Plan for Success with goals for academics, personal development, and college/career exploration; parents sign a plan and participate in regular meetings.
- 4Grant priority considerations include serving students in high-poverty, high-crime, or rural areas, providing postsecondary/career opportunities, ensuring a year-long match between student and coach, and showing student input in program design.
- 5Required uses of funds: establish/expand the program across all middle schools served, with monthly mentoring meetings, written parent-student-mentor plans, and quarterly evaluations; include goal setting, progress tracking, and college/career exposure activities.
- 6Authorized uses of funds: training for coaches (including trauma-informed care, privacy, disability inclusion), recruiting/matching/training coaches, hiring staff, sponsoring field trips and career exploration activities, and program evaluation/data collection.
- 7Grant duration capped at five years; oversight includes annual reports with participation, demographics, academic outcomes, truancy, arrests, postsecondary enrollment, coach contact hours, and social-emotional metrics; interim and final congressionally required reports.
- 8Mentoring resources coordination with the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, including access to the National Mentoring Resource Center and information on transition services for students returning from correctional facilities or with disabilities.