Mentoring is classified in different categories, three of which are:  

• School-Based (SBM)
• Community-Based (CBM)
• Justice System-Based

School-Based-Mentoring (SBM) began in the late 1990s.  SBM is also called Cross Age Peer Mentoring (CAMP) and Site-Based Mentoring.   It can be quite similar to Community-Based Mentoring (CBM), with the major differences being  a)  the location of the meetings and b)  the  duration of the match.  

Community-Based Mentoring (CBM) is the original mentoring template.   However, recent research has been exposing more aspects to consider than just location and duration.  True, CBM has longer monthly time together and lasts longer in overall match duration.   In SBM, a K–12 student is paired with a community volunteer or an older student in a supportive one-to-one relationship at the school site.   Historical research supports the benefits of CBM over SBM, but a growing body of research is finding the opposite:  that SBM has many benefits over CBM.   The reasons given are (Herrera et al., 2011, p. 347):     

• the student spend almost one-third of their day in the school setting
• there is a domino effect of benefits due to positive reinforcement of the school environment 
• the intervention occurs at the earliest possible opportunity

This meta-analysis research supports that  SBM doesn’t favorably impact the mentee’s social and personal well-being due to the disconnect once the academic year is over.  New schools, transfers, and dissolved matches negatively affect the continuity of the match, and  there is a “decay in impact” over the summer and into the following school year.  Their findings further  “suggest that the modest academic benefits of one school year of SBM may diminish soon after leaving the program” (Herrera et al., 2011, p. 347).

The following graphic seeks to illustrate the benefits and penalties of SBM compared to CBM.