The Enhanced Reading Opportunities Study: Findings from the Second Year of Implementation

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, a majority of ninth-graders in low-performing high schools begin their freshman year with significant reading difficulties. Poor reading ability is a key predictor of academic disengagement and, ultimately, dropping out. This report presents findings from the second year of the Enhanced Reading Opportunities (ERO) study, a demonstration and random assignment evaluation of two supplemental literacy programs -- Reading Apprenticeship Academic Literacy and Xtreme Reading -- that aim to improve the reading comprehension skills and school performance of struggling ninth-grade readers

Gaining Ground: Findings From the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways Impact Study

Many college students are required to take at least one developmental math course, but as many as half of them fail to complete their developmental math requirements and never matriculate into college-level courses. To address this issue, the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas at Austin created the Dana Center Mathematics Pathways (DCMP) to help colleges implement math pathways aligned with students’ programs of study in both developmental and college-level courses, accelerate students’ progress to and through college-level math, develop strategies to support students as learners, and integrate evidence-based practices in instruction. The Dana Center also created curricula the colleges used for three course pathways (focused on statistical reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and algebra/calculus). This CAPR study looks at how four Texas community colleges implemented DCMP and how instruction in DCMP courses compares with traditional developmental and college-level math courses. Through a randomized controlled trial involving 1,422 students who entered the study from fall 2015 through spring 2017, the researchers examined the impact of DCMP on student outcomes for up to four semesters. The study also considers student perspectives on the reforms and the start-up and ongoing costs of DCMP to the colleges. Researchers found that the colleges were successful in revising pre-existing policies, curricula, and pedagogy in order to launch and then scale DCMP courses to reach more students. They also found that instruction in DCMP courses looked very different from that in colleges’ standard developmental course offerings and college-level algebra courses. Finally, researchers found that DCMP students enrolled in and passed college-level math at higher rates than non-DCMP students, indicating that DCMP played a part in helping them overcome some of the pitfalls of developmental education and reach a crucial milestone. Key Findings: DCMP had a positive impact on students’ completion of the developmental math sequence and their likelihood of taking and passing college-level math. The impacts of DCMP appear to be greater for part-time students and students assessed as needing multiple developmental courses. Start-up and net ongoing direct costs to the colleges to implement and maintain DCMP were fairly low

Preparing High School Students for College: An Exploratory Study of College Readiness Partnership Programs in Texas

About 40 percent of traditional college students take at least one remedial course to prepare for college-level coursework. According to scholars and policymakers, one cause of this problem is the misalignment of high school graduation standards and college academic expectations. College readiness partnership programs attempt to address this problem by facilitating students’ transition to college. These programs, co-sponsored by a college and K-12 organization (usually a high school), are explicitly designed to prepare high school students to enter college ready to undertake college-level work. The current study examines a number of college readiness partnership programs operating in Texas and identifies their features, targeted students, and intended outcomes. It also examines the partnerships that created these programs. The findings presented here are based on a search and analysis of the relevant research and Texas policy literature, an online scan of college readiness partnership programs in Texas with a web presence, and site visits to high schools, colleges, and community-based organizations in the Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth areas. The authors observed that most college readiness partnership programs could be classified into two types: those that focused on academic subjects and those that focused on college knowledge. The former tended to be intensive, short-term programs that targeted a small group of students and provided a direct experience of college; the latter tended to be light-touch, long-term programs that were open to all students and provided little direct experience of college. Although few rigorous evaluations of these programs have been conducted, their potential to improve college readiness for students in the “academic middle” is generally supported by the literature and the research presented here. The authors identify a number of implications for college readiness partnership programs and the partnerships themselves. It is clear that college readiness partnerships create opportunities for secondary and postsecondary institutions to leverage each other’s services, eliminating redundant services and aligning programming to maximize gains for students. In some cases, college readiness partnership programs also lead to long-lasting relationships between institutions and continued collaboration. College readiness partnership programs may have the best chance of improving outcomes if commonly encountered challenges — such as issues related to student recruitment and program sustainability — are considered early in the planning stages. The authors emphasize the value of choosing interventions that show the greatest promise in a given context and matching students to the interventions that best meet their needs; they also note that building a stronger evidence base would enhance high schools’ and colleges’ ability to make sound decisions about which potential program models to implement

Preparing High School Students for College: An Exploratory Study of College Readiness Partnership Programs in Texas

Nationwide, about 40 percent of college students take at least one remedial course to prepare for college-level coursework (Attewell, Lavin, Domina, and Levey, 2006). One cause of this high rate of remedial enrollment is the misalignment of high school graduation standards and college academic expectations (Callan, Finney, Kirst, Usdan, and Venezia, 2006; Venezia, Kirst, and Antonio, 2003). College readiness partnership programs attempt to address this problem by facilitating students’ transition to college. The current study examines 37 state and local college readiness partnership programs in Texas as well as the partnerships that created these programs. The findings are based on a review of the relevant research and Texas policy literature, analysis of an online scan of college readiness partnership programs in Texas with a web presence, and site visits to high schools, colleges, and community-based organizations in the Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth areas. We define college readiness partnership programs as programmatic interventions co-sponsored by secondary and postsecondary institutions and offered to high school students with the goal of increasing students’ college readiness

Next Generation California Partnership Academies Impact Analysis Plan

This project is a replication study of the original MDRC Career Academies study, and is funded through a grant from Arnold Ventures. The California Department of Education (CDE) and the California Career Academies Support Network (CCASN) also received grants from Arnold Ventures to provide enhanced technical assistance to their network of state-supported Career Academies. This study will evaluate a subset of the academies receiving the enhanced technical assistance. The original Career Academies study was a student-level random assignment study launched in the early 1990s that followed participants for eight years beyond expected high school graduation. The study found enrollment in a Career Academy impacted students’ future employment and earnings. The effects were particularly strong for young men. Since that landmark study began, Career Academies programs have proliferated and there are currently nearly 7,000 academies nationwide. This new study began almost 25 years after participants in the first study were originally enrolled. Unlike the original study, which followed students enrolled in Career Academies in several urban areas across the country, this study focuses on cohorts of students enrolling in California Partnership Academies (CPA), which are Career Academies funded in part by the California Department of Education. Like the first study, this study is also a student-level random assignment design study. Participants include students enrolled in 15 California high schools that have CPAs. Students applied to the academy in the school year prior to the point of entry, and were randomly assigned to either a program group- those assigned to enroll in the academy; or a control group- those not assigned to enroll in the academy. Recruitment happened over a three-year period, and the sample includes students entering CPAs in the fall of 2018, 2019, and 2020. Using administrative records, MDRC will follow students from their point of entry into the academy and through eight years beyond expected high school graduation, seeking to measure impacts of the Career Academies model on high school graduation, postsecondary attainment, and employment and earnings outcomes

Preparing High School Students for College: An Exploratory Study of College Readiness Partnership Programs in Texas

About 40 percent of traditional college students take at least one remedial course to prepare for college-level coursework. According to scholars and policymakers, one cause of this problem is the misalignment of high school graduation standards and college academic expectations. College readiness partnership programs attempt to address this problem by facilitating students’ transition to college. These programs, co-sponsored by a college and K-12 organization (usually a high school), are explicitly designed to prepare high school students to enter college ready to undertake college-level work. The current study examines a number of college readiness partnership programs operating in Texas and identifies their features, targeted students, and intended outcomes. It also examines the partnerships that created these programs. The findings presented here are based on a search and analysis of the relevant research and Texas policy literature, an online scan of college readiness partnership programs in Texas with a web presence, and site visits to high schools, colleges, and community-based organizations in the Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth areas. The authors observed that most college readiness partnership programs could be classified into two types: those that focused on academic subjects and those that focused on college knowledge. The former tended to be intensive, short-term programs that targeted a small group of students and provided a direct experience of college; the latter tended to be light-touch, long-term programs that were open to all students and provided little direct experience of college. Although few rigorous evaluations of these programs have been conducted, their potential to improve college readiness for students in the “academic middle” is generally supported by the literature and the research presented here. The authors identify a number of implications for college readiness partnership programs and the partnerships themselves. It is clear that college readiness partnerships create opportunities for secondary and postsecondary institutions to leverage each other’s services, eliminating redundant services and aligning programming to maximize gains for students. In some cases, college readiness partnership programs also lead to long-lasting relationships between institutions and continued collaboration. College readiness partnership programs may have the best chance of improving outcomes if commonly encountered challenges — such as issues related to student recruitment and program sustainability — are considered early in the planning stages. The authors emphasize the value of choosing interventions that show the greatest promise in a given context and matching students to the interventions that best meet their needs; they also note that building a stronger evidence base would enhance high schools’ and colleges’ ability to make sound decisions about which potential program models to implement