The Riverside Community Center introduced a peer mentorship program that initially concerned many parents and school officials. Rather than pairing...
GMAT Information and Ideas : (Ideas) Questions
The Riverside Community Center introduced a peer mentorship program that initially concerned many parents and school officials. Rather than pairing struggling students with high-achieving peers, the program matched students facing similar challenges—those with attendance issues mentored other students with attendance problems, and students with behavioral difficulties worked with peers who had comparable struggles. Critics worried that grouping students with similar problems would reinforce negative behaviors instead of providing positive role models. Six months later, program evaluations showed that participating students demonstrated marked improvements in both academic performance and school engagement compared to students in traditional tutoring programs. Given these outcomes, it appears that ______
Which choice most logically completes the text?
most parents and school officials misunderstood the peer mentorship program's structure.
students with similar challenges make better mentors than high-achieving students do.
the community center effectively implemented its unconventional approach to peer mentoring.
traditional tutoring programs are less effective than previously believed.
Step 1: Decode and Map the Passage
Part A: Create Passage Analysis Table
| Text from Passage | Analysis |
|---|---|
| "The Riverside Community Center introduced a peer mentorship program that initially concerned many parents and school officials." |
|
| "Rather than pairing struggling students with high-achieving peers, the program matched students facing similar challenges—those with attendance issues mentored other students with attendance problems, and students with behavioral difficulties worked with peers who had comparable struggles." |
|
| "Critics worried that grouping students with similar problems would reinforce negative behaviors instead of providing positive role models." |
|
| "Six months later, program evaluations showed that participating students demonstrated marked improvements in both academic performance and school engagement compared to students in traditional tutoring programs." |
|
Part B: Provide Passage Architecture & Core Elements
Main Point: An initially criticized peer mentorship program that paired students with similar challenges rather than using high-achieving mentors proved successful after six months of evaluation.
Argument Flow: The passage moves from introducing an unconventional approach that faced skepticism, to explaining why critics were concerned, to revealing that the actual results contradicted those concerns and showed the program worked better than expected.
Step 2: Interpret the Question Precisely
This is a fill-in-the-blank question asking us to choose the best logical connector. The answer must create the right relationship between what comes before and after the blank.
Step 3: Prethink the Answer
- The passage shows us that despite initial concerns about the unconventional approach, the program actually worked very well—students showed marked improvements compared to traditional programs
- The right answer should acknowledge that the community center's unconventional approach was successful, despite the initial skepticism
- It should recognize that the concerns were unfounded and the program achieved its goals effectively
most parents and school officials misunderstood the peer mentorship program's structure.
- This focuses on parents and officials "misunderstanding" the program
- The passage doesn't suggest they misunderstood the structure—they understood it but were concerned about its effectiveness
students with similar challenges make better mentors than high-achieving students do.
- Makes too broad a claim about students with similar challenges being "better mentors" than high-achieving students
- The passage only shows this one program worked well, not that this approach is universally better
the community center effectively implemented its unconventional approach to peer mentoring.
- Directly acknowledges that the community center "effectively implemented its unconventional approach"
- Connects the positive outcomes to the success of their specific program implementation
- Uses appropriately measured language that fits the evidence provided
traditional tutoring programs are less effective than previously believed.
- Focuses on traditional tutoring programs being "less effective than previously believed"
- The passage's main point isn't about downgrading traditional programs but about this specific program succeeding