Search

Students succeed in school environments that support them in demonstrating prosocial and positive behavior. Student behaviors that disrupt or distract from classroom instruction can result in fewer learning opportunities for students and decreased likelihood of academic success. Behavioral interventions can help students engage in positive behaviors, contributing both to their individual education success and to the success of their peers in the classroom. The purpose of the practice guide, developed by the What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) in conjunction with an expert panel, is to provide guidance on implementing teacher-delivered, low-intensity behavioral interventions in grades K-5 classrooms. The overarching aim of the recommendations is to help teachers support students in demonstrating positive behaviors in the classroom so that students and their classmates can engage in learning. The recommended strategies are intended to complement existing schoolwide behavioral programs and apply to both general education classrooms and separate classrooms. The recommendations also support the teaching of positive behaviors that students can generalize to other settings and relationships. This summary introduces the seven recommendations and supporting evidence described in the full practice guide.

The set of appendices in this volume is a companion to the report "Federal Efforts Towards Investing in Innovation in Education Through the i3 Fund: A Summary of Grantmaking and Evidence-Building." The goal of the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) was to build high-quality evidence about effective educational strategies and to expand implementation of these strategies. Between 2010 and 2016, i3 awarded 172 grants totaling $1.4 billion to universities, school districts, and private non-profit organizations. The i3 Fund intentionally awarded different types of grants either to develop and test new, innovative but as-yet-unproven strategies or to learn more about the circumstances under which previously tested strategies are effective. Grantees were required to fund independent evaluations that would meet high standards for quality. Appendices included in this document are: (1) Additional Details about the Investing in Innovation (i3) Fund Program; (2) Study Design and Methods; and (3) Supplemental Tables and Information on Study Findings.

Finding innovative educational strategies that work is important to help improve student learning and close equity gaps nationwide. The goal of the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation Fund (i3) was to build high-quality evidence about effective educational strategies and to expand implementation of these strategies. Between 2010 and 2016, i3 awarded 172 grants totaling $1.4 billion to universities, school districts, and private non-profit organizations. The i3 Fund intentionally awarded different types of grants either to develop and test new, innovative but as-yet-unproven strategies or to learn more about the circumstances under which previously tested strategies are effective. Grantees were required to fund independent evaluations that would meet high standards for quality. This report examines the quality and findings of the 148 i3 grants with completed evaluations and provides information about the focus of the strategies those grantees tested.

The Massachusetts Early Childhood Support Organization (ECSO) initiative seeks to improve the quality of early education programs (EEPs) by supporting leaders to strengthen their organizational climate, provide job-embedded professional learning opportunities for educators, support the use of instructional curriculum and child assessments in their program, and engage in continuous quality improvement. This report presents findings from an ongoing implementation and impact evaluation of the ECSO initiative conducted by Abt Associates, an independent research firm. In the 2022-23 school year, 30 similar EEPs that were not receiving ECSO supports were recruited to serve as the first cohort of comparison programs for the impact evaluation, a quasi-experimental design (QED) that will ultimately involve two cohorts of ECSO-supported EEPs and two cohorts of comparison programs. The interim findings in this report focus primarily on data collected from ECSOs, participating Cohort 3 EEPs, and the comparison EEPs in the 2022-23 school year, including surveys, classroom observations, and administrative data -- data collected after the ECSO EEPs had experienced their first year of supports. Similar data from Cohort 2 after two years of supports are provided for context and to offer insight into what might be expected to happen in the QED after ECSO EEPs experience their second year of the initiative. Although the findings are interim because the full QED relies on data from an additional cohort of treatment and comparison programs onboarded in the summer of 2023 and will not be completed until both cohorts experience the full two years of initiative supports, this report sheds light on the initiative's impact so far.

Starting with the high school graduating Class of 2009, Success Boston has provided transition coaching to Boston Public Schools (BPS) high school graduates, many of whom are from groups traditionally underrepresented in college. In the first few years of Success Boston Coaching (SBC), the program served approximately 300 students per year. In 2015, under a "scale-up" effort supported in part by a Social Innovation Fund grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service, SBC expanded from serving several hundred Boston young adults in each high school graduating class to about 1,000 students per cohort. Beginning with the 2015 cohort, Success Boston also accorded more significant and intentional focus on the coaching of students at two-year colleges as well as on supporting students who are young men of color. The study examines how SBC was implemented, and what effects, if any, SBC has had on students' postsecondary success and completion. This longitudinal study follows five cohorts of students who initially enrolled in college each fall, from 2013 through 2017, immediately after graduating from high school. It looks at whether students who received SBC were more successful in the short-term and long-term in college than a group of similar peers who did not receive SBC. This report examines the effects of SBC on postsecondary completion for the five cohorts combined: the pre-scale-up cohorts (2013 and 2014) and the post-scale-up cohorts (2015, 2016, and 2017). In addition, to complement the 2021 report's focus on the pre-scale-up cohorts' completion, and because it is a common practice to examine how a program's effects change after the program is scaled up, this report also examines SBC's effects on the three post-scale-up cohorts' completion. Finally, as an exploratory analysis, the report also examines how SBC affects students' completion of different types of credentials, such as bachelor's degrees and associate degrees.

Living in poverty worsens every type of life outcome for children, from physical and mental health to earnings, educational attainment, child welfare involvement, and risky behavior--and the longer children live in poverty, the worse their outcomes are as adults. Guaranteed Income (GI) is a policy that seeks to redress such inequities by providing recurring, unconditional cash to eligible participants. Substantial prior research has shown that increasing a household's income improves children's outcomes--and that a key path by which that happens is by improving the mother's mental health. This brief is woven from the stories shared by 67 parents and guardians participating in city-led 12-month guaranteed income (GI) pilot programs in the Southeast (USA)--in Atlanta, GA, Birmingham, AL, Louisville, KY, and Shreveport, LA. This brief shows how that process unfolds through parents' own stories of how GI pilots affected their and their children's lives. [Abt Associates acknowledge support and coordination from: Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, IMPACT (Atlanta, GA), Embrace Mothers (Birmingham, AL), YaLIFT! (Louisville, KY), and Shreveport Guaranteed Income Pilot (Shreveport, LA).

Over the past decade, Children's Savings Account (CSA) programs have proliferated across the United States. CSA programs pair long-term savings and investment accounts with other supports to help families pay for post-secondary education. The goal of most CSA programs is to increase participants'--especially those from low-income households--post-secondary enrollment and completion. Within that broader aim, many programs also have goals around addressing barriers for Black and Latine participants to accessing and completing post-secondary education. However, there has been only limited research into how CSA programs are supporting Black and Latine participants. To begin to address this research gap, "Abt Associates" and "Prosperity Now" conducted research in 2020-21 with four CSA program sites. The four case studies explore what the programs are doing to address challenges faced by Black and Latine students in engaging with CSAs and ultimately accessing and completing post-secondary education.

The Massachusetts Early Childhood Support Organization (ECSO) initiative seeks to improve the quality of early education programs (EEPs) by supporting leaders to strengthen their organizational climate, provide job-embedded professional learning opportunities for educators, support the use of instructional curriculum and child assessments in their program, and engage in continuous quality improvement. This report presents findings from an implementation study conducted by Abt Associates, an independent research firm. The findings are based on data collected from ECSOs and participating EEPs in the 2021-2022 school year, including surveys, classroom observations, and administrative data. Although the findings are descriptive and changes over time cannot be attributed to the initiative because there is no comparison group, they show promise and warrant further study.

In 2015, Abt Associates received a grant from the Institutes for Education Sciences (IES) for a five-year "Development and Innovation" study of PTC. The purposes of the study were to gauge progress in implementing PTC and to develop and test improvements where needed. Fein et al. (2020) summarize the IES study's approach and findings. A subsequent grant from Arnold Ventures provided support for extending the two analyses--to three follow-up years for Study 1 and to four years for Study 2. This report provides findings from these longer-term analyses. Study 1 found no difference in average earnings or months enrolled in college in follow-up Years 2 and 3 between young adults assigned to PTC and their control group counterparts. (As expected, the PTC group earned less and spent more time in college than the control group in Year 1, when participants were still in the program.) The results also show modest increases in receipt of credentials (mostly short-term certificates based on credit earned at partner college during PTC).

Over the past 25 years, research and practical experience have supported investments in strategies to encourage all students to behave according to agreed-upon expectations. In collaboration with expert panelists, the What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) distilled that research into practical recommendations for elementary educators. The "Teacher-Delivered Behavior Interventions in Grades K-5 Practice Guide" details seven evidence-based practices for teachers to use in their classrooms to support students in demonstrating prosocial and expected behavior. This introduction briefly describes the recommendations and how they are presented in the "Practice Guide."

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) funded 46 grantees across the country to expand registered apprenticeship into new sectors, such as healthcare, and to populations historically underrepresented in apprenticeships. DOL commissioned an evaluation of the AAI grants to build evidence about the effectiveness of registered apprenticeship for apprentices and employers. This report presents findings from the demonstration study that examined the impact of employer engagement efforts on employers' take-up of registered apprenticeship. The primary data source is data collected by the two grantees in the demonstration on their efforts to research, contact, and subsequently develop apprenticeship programs with employers. Other data sources include interviews conducted during site visits to and phone calls with the two grantees, and observations of technical assistance provided to grantee staff by a consultant. [This report was produced in partnership with Capital Research Corporation.]

The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) supported 46 grantees across the country to expand registered apprenticeship into new sectors, such as healthcare, and to populations historically underrepresented in apprenticeships. DOL commissioned an evaluation of the AAI grants to build evidence about the effectiveness of registered apprenticeship for apprentices and employers. This report presents findings from the outcomes study of that evaluation. It examines the characteristics, reasons for enrollment, program experiences, and post-program outcomes of AAI apprentices and pre-apprentices. The data sources include an AAI Apprentice Survey administered to a sample of approximately 2,600 registered apprentices, program records from grantees, and administrative earnings data from the National Directory of New Hires.

Funded by the H-1B visa program, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) American Apprenticeship Initiative (AAI) provided funding to 46 grantees across the country to expand registered apprenticeship into new sectors, such as healthcare, and to populations underrepresented in apprenticeships. DOL commissioned an evaluation of the AAI grants to build evidence about the effectiveness of registered apprenticeship for apprentices and employers. This report presents findings of the employer return-on-investment (ROI) sub-study. The primary data source is an Employer Survey administered to 68 employers that hired apprentices supported by an AAI grant. Each employer was asked to describe one of their apprenticeship programs in detail; all together, these programs represented 2,854 apprentices. The survey was deployed between March 2020 and October 2020, towards the end of the 5-year AAI grant period. The report documents the costs, benefits, net benefits, and ROI estimates that AAI employers experienced by investing in apprenticeship programs. The report includes information on costs and benefits during the apprenticeship program period, as well as projections of benefits for up to 5 years after apprentices completed their apprenticeship.

The Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program provided education and occupational training to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients and other adults with low incomes. HPOG training is for healthcare occupations that pay well and may experience labor shortages or be in high demand. This report details common themes from interviews with working students of 14 HPOG 2.0 programs. It highlights common experiences and challenges they faced pursuing and completing their training, which include the competing demands of working to pay for household expenses and caring for family members. Key findings suggest additional logistical and financial support might increase program completion rates; students' willingness to enroll in subsequent, higher-level training; and ultimately earnings. Recommendations for further support include: (1) Additional financial assistance--such as stipends to cover costs of maintaining a household/caring for family members or with emergency costs; (2) Financial and logistical support for caretaking responsibilities--to better meet participants' needs and reduce their stress levels throughout training; (3) Greater program flexibility--to make up classes missed while responding to emergency situations and schedule conflicts, for example; and (4) Motivational messaging--promoting the well-being of participants' children as a major incentive to complete training. Frequent reminders that connect to participants' motivations could increase program completion. This is part of a series of briefs describing lessons from HPOG 2.0 participants. The series aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of motivations for enrolling in a career pathways program; managing work, training, and life balance; and services that facilitate their success. [For Brief 2, see ED621586.]

"Career Pathways" is a framework that combines education, occupational training, and support services that align with the skill demands of the local economy to help participants enter and advance in a sequence of occupations within a specific sector or occupational cluster. Career pathways programs seek to address many of the challenges that disadvantaged adults face in succeeding in training and progressing along a career pathway's occupational steps. For example, career pathways training programs might offer flexible schedules, provide financial and other assistance, and connect participants to employers and employment, including work-based learning opportunities. This first brief in the HPOG 2.0 Participant Perspectives series presents insights from in-depth, in-person interviews with participants in career pathways programs funded by the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program. The brief describes participant experiences navigating career pathways and suggests implications for career pathways program practice and for evaluations of career pathways programs.

Data on enrollment in healthcare occupational training in programs such as the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) Program are available at both the local program level and nationally. Summarizing "which" trainings participants choose is straightforward, but why they make those choices is not well understood. This second brief in the HPOG 2.0 Participant Perspectives series considers why HPOG 2.0 participants chose the healthcare field in general, and why they chose their specific healthcare occupation. Because job quality was a clear consideration for the participants we interviewed, the brief also provides further detail on their understanding of job quality within the healthcare field. This paper also offers perspective on how interviewees thought broadly about what De Vos, Akkermans, and Van der Heijden (2019) term "crafting" a career--an ongoing, dynamic process of fitting together family financial needs, work experience, and opportunities for additional training. Finally, it offers some policy implications, particularly for the structure of career pathways program design and employer engagement. The brief draws on data from 153 in-person interviews with participants in career pathways programs funded by the HPOG Program. [For Brief 1, see ED621587.]

Large numbers of students who enroll in college do not complete a degree. If students attribute their academic challenges to a perceived lack of intelligence or inability to succeed in college, they may be less likely to persist. "Growth Mindset" interventions aim to improve college persistence and academic achievement by encouraging students to view intelligence as a "malleable" characteristic that grows with effort, and to view academic challenges as temporary setbacks that they can overcome. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of "Growth Mindset" interventions on postsecondary students' academic achievement, college enrollment, and progressing in college. The WWC identified 15 studies of "Growth Mindset" interventions. Six of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of Growth Mindset interventions on postsecondary students--including Black, White, Hispanic, first-generation, and Pell grant-eligible students--in both public and private postsecondary settings. This Intervention Brief provides an overview of the full Intervention Report. [For the Intervention Report, see ED617271. For the Intervention Report Snapshot, see ED617278.]

Large numbers of students who enroll in college do not complete a degree. Yet, earning a college degree is one of the primary pathways for economic success and is increasingly required for good jobs and high wages. The way students interpret early academic struggles in college may affect whether or not they remain enrolled. If students attribute their academic challenges to a perceived lack of intelligence or inability to succeed in college, they may be less likely to persist. "Growth Mindset" interventions aim to improve college persistence and academic achievement by encouraging students to view intelligence as a "malleable" characteristic that grows with effort, and to view academic challenges as temporary setbacks that they can overcome. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of "Growth Mindset" interventions on postsecondary students' academic achievement, college enrollment, and progressing in college. The WWC identified 15 studies of "Growth Mindset" interventions. Six of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of Growth Mindset interventions on postsecondary students--including Black, White, Hispanic, first-generation, and Pell grant-eligible students--in both public and private postsecondary settings. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED617275. For the Intervention Report Snapshot, see ED617278.]

"Social Belonging" interventions for college students aim to reduce the impacts of negative stereotypes that may burden students in underrepresented groups and affect their persistence in college. There are different variations of "Social Belonging" interventions but they all have in common a goal of influencing students' sense that they could be successful within a college setting. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of "Social Belonging" interventions on postsecondary students' academic achievement, progressing in college, and college enrollment. The WWC identified 14 studies of "Social Belonging" interventions. Seven of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Social Belonging" on postsecondary students in less advantaged or underrepresented groups--including Asian, White, Black, Hispanic, first-generation, and female students--in both public and private postsecondary settings. This Intervention Brief provides an overview of the full Intervention Report. [For the Intervention Report, see ED617179. For the Intervention Report Snapshot, see ED617182.]

"Social Belonging" interventions for college students aim to reduce the impacts of negative stereotypes that may burden students in underrepresented groups and affect their persistence in college. There are different variations of "Social Belonging" interventions but they all have in common a goal of influencing students' sense that they could be successful within a college setting. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of "Social Belonging" interventions on postsecondary students' academic achievement, progressing in college, and college enrollment. The WWC identified 14 studies of "Social Belonging" interventions. Seven of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Social Belonging" on postsecondary students in less advantaged or underrepresented groups--including Asian, White, Black, Hispanic, first-generation, and female students--in both public and private postsecondary settings. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED617181. For the Intervention Report Snapshot, see ED617182.]

Internet search engines have empowered citizens in their quest for seeking insights on a multitude of issues. Knowledge curation and evidence review requires systematic and rigorous fact-finding, baseline subject matter expertise, and the right tool to work at scale. Finding and summarizing knowledge has a direct impact on the research and dissemination of evidencebased practices and novel approaches, and on improved outcomes of interest. Literature reviews are the most common methodology for knowledge curation but are limited by lack of human resources and the sheer number of publications available. It is estimated that there are approximately 30,000 scientific journals publishing upwards of two million articles every year (Wagner et al., 2021). In this context, subject matter experts benefit from the support of automated tools to provide customized, iterative, and replicable processes. Many of the world's most challenging problems need solutions that move beyond a Google search.

This brief by Abt Associates discusses the application of digital tools to build capacity for both tracking activities and analyzing service quality and trends so providers can develop more responsive interventions. It describes the benefits of a CommCare-based, Abt-deployed Community-Based Events and Continuing Medication apps, developed for the USAID-funded Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Activity in Tajikistan. The Activity's goal is to improve the nutritional status of mothers and of children under two, and reduce their morbidity and mortality rates--by increasing the availability of high-quality, life-saving health services. The Community-Based Education app has been successfully used by 307 facilitators in four districts in Tajikistan and by 12 participating District Coordinators and in Health Lifestyle Centers. It collects and stores data, and facilitates data analysis, on community-level outreach activities, including meetings, trainings, and mentoring and supportive supervision visits Digital tools like this help identify key barriers to and motivators for behavior change, leading to more effective messages and interventions. Project implementers can now compare participant training data with other Healthy Mother Healthy Baby indicators to identify where additional targeted trainings are needed.

Most occupations projected to grow the fastest in the coming years will require postsecondary education and training. Of the 30 occupations with the most job growth projected between 2019 and 2029, 20 require at least some postsecondary education, including degrees and nondegree credentials. Millions of adults lack the postsecondary credentials needed to obtain many jobs in the current economy. Challenges to credential attainment include limited information about education and training options and their outcomes, expenses related to enrollment and persistence, and, for many students, the need to balance school with work responsibilities. This brief first summarizes the career pathways framework and associated evaluations. Then, using findings from these evaluations, it describes how programs that incorporate key features of the career pathways framework help their students persist and complete. Although not specific to working students, the strategies described can help students balance school and work. Data is used from three Administration for Children and Families-funded studies of programs adopting a career pathways framework.

"Project QUEST" ("Quality Employment through Skills Training") provides comprehensive support services to help participants complete occupational training programs at local community colleges and professional training institutes, pass certification exams, and obtain well-paying jobs in targeted sectors of the local economy. This What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "Project QUEST" on education and labor market outcomes. The WWC identified five studies of "Project QUEST." Three of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Project QUEST" on students enrolled in occupational training programs--including Asian, Black, White, and Hispanic students--in community colleges and professional training institutes in urban, suburban, and rural settings. This Intervention Brief provides an overview of the full Intervention Report. [For the Intervention Report, see ED615787. For the Intervention Snapshot, see ED615790.]

"Project QUEST" ("Quality Employment through Skills Training") provides comprehensive support services to help participants complete occupational training programs at local community colleges and professional training institutes, pass certification exams, and obtain well-paying jobs in targeted sectors of the local economy. "Project QUEST" started in 1992 in San Antonio, Texas, and has been adapted in other locations in Texas and Arizona under different names, including "VIDA" ("Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement") in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, "Capital IDEA" in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas, "Project ARRIBA" ("Advanced Retraining & Redevelopment Initiative in Border Areas") in El Paso, Texas, and "JobPath" in Tucson, Arizona. This What Works Clearinghouse™ (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "Project QUEST" on education and labor market outcomes. The WWC identified five studies of "Project QUEST." Three of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Project QUEST" on students enrolled in occupational training programs--including Asian, Black, White, and Hispanic students--in community colleges and professional training institutes in urban, suburban, and rural settings. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED615789. For the Intervention Snapshot, see ED615790.]

"Year Up" is an occupational and technical education intervention that targets high school graduates to provide them with six months of training in the information technology and financial service sectors followed by a six-month internship and supports to ensure that participants have strong connections to employment. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "Year Up" on short- and medium-term earnings and employment and on industry-recognized credential completion. The WWC identified two studies of "Year Up." Both meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Year Up" on young adults ages 18 to 24 with a high school diploma or equivalent--including Black and Hispanic individuals--in urban areas around the country. This intervention brief provides an overview of the full report. [For the Intervention Report, see ED615758. For the Intervention Snapshot, see ED615761.]

"Year Up" is an occupational and technical education intervention that targets high school graduates to provide them with six months of training in the information technology and financial service sectors followed by a six-month internship and supports to ensure that participants have strong connections to employment. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Postsecondary Career and Technical Education topic area, explores the effects of "Year Up" on short- and medium-term earnings and employment and on industry-recognized credential completion. The WWC identified two studies of "Year Up." Both meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Year Up" on young adults ages 18 to 24 with a high school diploma or equivalent--including Black and Hispanic individuals--in urban areas around the country. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED615760. For the Intervention Snapshot, see ED615761.]

This appendix is a companion to the "Study of Enhanced College Advising in Upward Bound: Impacts on Where and How Long Students Attend College" (ED615732) report. The appendix provides additional information about the "Find the Fit" enhanced advising strategies and the study that assessed its effectiveness when implemented within Upward Bound projects. This additional information includes details on how the study was designed and conducted, the statistics that support key findings in the report, and exploratory analyses performed to further investigate and understand those key findings. The content of the appendix is referenced throughout the main report. The following sections are included: (1) Additional details about "Find the Fit; (2) Additional information about how the study was designed and implemented; (3) Supplemental tables and information on study findings; and (4) Effects by level of "Find the Fit" Implementation. [For the study highlights, see ED615734.]

Decisions about whether and where to go to college can make a difference in students' later success. However, many students from low-income families--"undermatch"--they do not enroll at all or do not enroll in the most selective college they likely could attend. This study investigated whether promising advising strategies, bundled together in a package called "Find the Fit," could improve college choices for rising high school seniors in the federal college access program Upward Bound. "Find the Fit" includes customized information about college going and costs, text messaging of key application and financial aid deadlines, and specialized training for the students' advisors. About 200 Upward Bound projects across the country volunteered to test "Find the Fit," with half randomly selected to get access to it during the study period. This final report compared the college choices of 4,500 students in projects with and without access to "Find the Fit" to determine its effects on college attendance. Key findings include: (1) Despite its initial benefits -- increasing the number and selectivity of the colleges to which students applied -- "Find the Fit" did not change whether these students, mostly from low-income families, undermatched; (2) "Find the Fit" did shift some students' enrollment choices to more selective colleges, regardless of whether students were undermatched. This shift did not seem to come with higher costs or a greater risk of dropping out, potential consequences of attending a more selective college; and (3) But there was no significant effect on college persistence through the third year after high school. [For the study highlights, see ED615734. For the appendix, see ED615736.]

At its most effective, advising is a collaborative process between a student and an advisor designed to help the student realize their educational potential. Most postsecondary institutions have historically used advisors to help students select and register for courses, but postsecondary institutions are increasingly asking advisors to play an instrumental role in helping students progress through college. This summary introduces the recommendations and supporting evidence described in the full practice guide: (1) Intentionally design and deliver comprehensive, integrated advising that incorporates academic and non-academic supports to empower students to reach their educational goals; (2) Transform advising to focus on the development of sustained, personalized relationships with individual students throughout their college career; (3) Use mentoring and coaching to enhance comprehensive, integrated advising in ways that support students' achievement and progression; and (4) Embed positive incentives in intentionally designed advising structures to encourage student participation and continued engagement. [For the full practice guide, see ED615134.]

Success Boston, a city-wide initiative to boost college persistence and ultimately improve college completion rates for Boston's high school graduates, has one-on-one transition coaching as a core strategy. Transition coaching offers students sustained, proactive, and responsive support in their first two years of college. Specifically, coaches help students navigate the academic, financial, career, and personal aspects of college through one-on-one meetings, phone calls, emails, and text messages. In addition, coaches refer students to resources and services on their campuses. By providing these supports, Success Boston coaches aim to help students succeed in college and ultimately complete their degrees and certificates. This report examines the impacts of Success Boston Coaching (SBC) on college completion, college persistence, and academic achievement for four cohorts of students: the Boston high school graduates from the Classes of 2013 and 2014 (cohorts before the scale-up) and 2015 and 2016 (cohorts after the scale-up). Using a quasi-experimental design, the evaluation compares persistence and completion rates for the students who participated in SBC ("treatment" group) versus those of a group of similar students ("comparison" group) who did not participate in SBC. As such, the report provides evidence that observed differences in outcomes between the two groups are due to SBC. [Written with Beth Gamse.]

Colleges attempt to identify students who are underprepared for college-level courses and then place them into developmental courses intended to help them succeed. These courses are usually offered on a non-credit basis and do not count toward graduation. As a result, students enrolled in developmental education can take longer to graduate than peers who enroll in credit-bearing college courses from the outset. Several interventions have been designed to accelerate students' transition from developmental to credit-bearing college courses, including the "Charles A. Dana Center Mathematics Pathways," hereafter referred to as "Dana Center Mathematics Pathways" or "DCMP." "DCMP" offers multiple math pathways aligned to programs of study, accelerated enrollment in credit-bearing college math courses, integrated student supports, and math instruction that incorporates evidence-based curricula and pedagogy. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Developmental Education topic area, explores the effects of "DCMP" on student progression in developmental education and progression in college. The WWC identified seven studies of DCMP. Three of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "DCMP" on community college students--including Asian, Black, White, and Hispanic students--in urban, suburban, and rural settings. [For the full report, see ED613059. For the Intervention Snapshot, see ED613061.]

Colleges attempt to identify students who are underprepared for college-level courses and then place them into developmental courses intended to help them succeed. These courses are usually offered on a non-credit basis and do not count toward graduation. As a result, students enrolled in developmental education can take longer to graduate than peers who enroll in credit-bearing college courses from the outset. Several interventions have been designed to accelerate students' transition from developmental to credit-bearing college courses, including the "Charles A. Dana Center Mathematics Pathways," hereafter referred to as "Dana Center Mathematics Pathways" or "DCMP." "DCMP" offers multiple math pathways aligned to programs of study, accelerated enrollment in credit-bearing college math courses, integrated student supports, and math instruction that incorporates evidence-based curricula and pedagogy. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Developmental Education topic area, explores the effects of "DCMP" on student progression in developmental education and progression in college. The WWC identified seven studies of DCMP. Three of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "DCMP" on community college students--including Asian, Black, White, and Hispanic students--in urban, suburban, and rural settings. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED613060. For the Intervention Snapshot, see ED613061.]

This technical appendix supports the "New Mexico Charter School Study: Findings Report," providing detailed information on statistical methods and results. The document includes: (1) Overview of Study Design; (2) Charter School Lottery Study; and (3) Dual Language and Charter School Matching Study. The Charter School Lottery Study section describes the experimental methods and detailed findings. The Dual Language and Charter School Matching Study section describes the quasi-experimental methods and findings. [This report was written with Matthew Pahl, Michael Rodríguez, David Rogers, and Elizabeth Howard and produced in partnership with Public Charter Schools of New Mexico, and Dual Language Education of New Mexico. For the full report, see ED613420.]

Conducted for Arnold Ventures by Abt Associates, the "New Mexico Charter School Study: Findings Report" collates the results of Abt's evaluation of numerous charter schools in the state, several of which employ a whole-school dual language model. The study also created multiple logic models for use by practitioners, policymakers, and researchers, and led to ideas for making enrollment in charters schools more equitable. Among the findings: the most rigorous analysis, a lottery study, found no statistically significant impacts on measured student academic outcomes for elementary-aged and middle school-aged students, nor on college enrollment for high school-aged students. However, the less rigorous analysis--a quasi-experimental study--had mixed results, suggesting high school charters increased college enrollment and elementary charters reduced mathematics achievement. [This report was written with Matthew Pahl, Michael Rodríguez, David Rogers, and Elizabeth Howard and produced in partnership with Public Charter Schools of New Mexico, and Dual Language Education of New Mexico. For the technical appendix, see ED613419.]

Abt Associates evaluated the Bridges to Career Opportunities (BCO) program, developed by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), to determine whether adults with low incomes and low skills who participate in BCO services are more likely to increase their employment and financial stability than do adults who participate in LISC's Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC) services alone. Overall, participants who were in the BCO programs were 19 percentage points more likely to have a "job improvement" than were participants in FOC-only programs (56 percent versus 37 percent). [This report was submitted to and supported by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC).]

"Bottom Line" provides intensive advising for low-income high school students, most of whom are the first in their family to go to college. The advising is designed to help students apply for college and financial aid and select a high-quality, affordable institution. For students who attend one of "Bottom Line's" target colleges which they identified as providing a high-quality education at an affordable price, "Bottom Line" continues to provide regular support to students on campus for up to six years. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Transition to College topic area, explores the effects of "Bottom Line" on enrolling and progressing in college. The WWC identified two studies of "Bottom Line," one of which meets WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from one study of the impact of "Bottom Line" on high school and college students--including African-American, Hispanic, and Asian students--based in Boston, New York City, and Worcester, Massachusetts. [For "Bottom Line. Intervention Brief. Transition to College Topic Area. NCEE 2021-013," see ED612307. For "Bottom Line. Intervention Snapshot. Transition to College Topic Area. NCEE 2021-013," see ED612308.]

"Bottom Line" provides intensive advising for low-income high school students, most of whom are the first in their family to go to college. The advising is designed to help students apply for college and financial aid and select a high-quality, affordable institution. For students who attend one of "Bottom Line's" target colleges, which they identified as providing a high-quality education at an affordable price, "Bottom Line" continues to provide regular support to students on campus for up to six years. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Transition to College topic area, explores the effects of "Bottom Line" on enrolling and progressing in college. The WWC identified two studies of "Bottom Line," one of which meets WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from one study of the impact of "Bottom Line" on high school and college students--including African-American, Hispanic, and Asian students--based in Boston, New York City, and Worcester, Massachusetts. This intervention brief provides an overview of the full report. [For "Bottom Line. Intervention Report. Transition to College Topic Area. NCEE 2021-013," see ED612306. For "Bottom Line. Intervention Snapshot. Transition to College Topic Area. NCEE 2021-013," see ED612308.]

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) funded Manhattan Strategy Group and Abt Associates to conduct the Advancing Innovation in Adult Education project. The goal is to inspire and promote the development and use of innovate approaches in adult education that can result in high quality services and positive outcomes for adult learners. The five adult education practices highlighted in this report provide integrated education and training program as well as bridge services that support adults' development of the knowledge, skills, and abilities they need to enroll and be successful in postsecondary education or occupational training, earn short-term credentials, and obtain employment. The programs, which are part of local school districts, have developed strong partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including community and technical colleges, universities, workforce development providers, and employers. The five practices and the programs in which they are being implemented include: (1) Bridges to Careers Expansion, Rochester Adult Literacy at Hawthorne, Rochester, Minnesota; (2) Career Pathways, South Bay Adult School, Redondo Beach, California; (3) Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA), Jennings County Education Center, North Vernon, Indiana; (4) Connections 101, Great Falls College and Career Readiness Center, Great Falls, Montana; and and (5) PluggedIn Virginia (PIVA) Boot Camp, Peninsula Regional Education Program, Newport News, Virginia. This compendium describes the project's criteria for the selection of innovative practices, and provides context for the practices that were selected and profiles each of the innovative practices.

These are the appendices for the report "Study of College Transition Messaging in GEAR UP: Impacts on Enrolling and Staying in College." Five appendices are included in the document: (1) Additional Details about College Transition Messaging; (2) Additional Information about How the Study Was Designed and Implemented; (3) Supplemental Tables and Information on Study Findings; (4) Bayesian Analysis of Immediate College Enrollment Result; and (5) College Advising Experiences. [For "Study of College Transition Messaging in GEAR UP: Impacts on Enrolling and Staying in College. Evaluation Report. NCEE 2021-005," see ED610968. For "Study of College Transition Messaging in GEAR UP: Impacts on Enrolling and Staying in College. Study Highlights. NCEE 2021-005h," see ED610970.]

Many high school seniors who plan to attend college do not enroll, and others enroll but do not return for a second year. Low-income students are more likely than their higher-income peers to fall off track after high school ends, when they often have limited connections to advisors, insufficient information about key college transition steps, and concerns about falling short and fitting in. Text-message-based advising is an increasingly popular strategy to address these challenges, including among states and districts that participate in the federal college access program Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP). In this study about 4,800 college-intending seniors in high-need high schools across the country were randomly divided into two groups: one received their regular GEAR UP supports in the summer before and during their first year of college, and the other group received these regular supports with the addition of text messaging designed to support a successful transition to college. The study compared the experiences and outcomes of the two groups to determine the effectiveness of the transition messaging. [For "Study of College Transition Messaging in GEAR UP: Impacts on Enrolling and Staying in College. Appendix. NCEE 2021-005a," see ED610969. For "Study of College Transition Messaging in GEAR UP: Impacts on Enrolling and Staying in College. Study Highlights. NCEE 2021-005h," see ED610970.]

The Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA) was awarded an Education Innovation and Research (EIR) Early Phase grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2017 to develop, implement, and test a promising program to improve student achievement and educational progress for high-need students: Reenergizing Leadership to Achieve Greater Student Success (Reenergize). Reenergize is intended to improve the achievement and educational progress of high-need students by selecting, training, coaching, and empowering principals and school leadership teams to be effective advocates, collaborators, and risk-taking innovators. This report provides findings from the EIR-funded Abt Associates implementation and impact evaluation of the Reenergize program in ten schools (four elementary, four middle, and two high schools) serving a total of 8,464 students around San Antonio, Texas. The implementation study assesses whether key intervention activities were implemented with fidelity. The comparative short interrupted time-series (C-SITS) impact study examines the effect of Reenergize on student academic success outcomes: attendance, reading/writing and math achievement, high school graduation, college and career readiness, and postsecondary enrollment. IDRA intended to implement Reenergize for three school years: 2019-20, 2020-21, and 2021-22. The COVID-19 pandemic, combined with high rates of teacher and administration turnover, severely attenuated the implementation of Reenergize. Over the three years of implementation, more than 60 principals and leadership team members received professional development services for a total of more than 250 hours of professional development. However, relatively few intervention schools experienced the full Reenergize program as designed. Consequently, Reenergize did not meet any of the program-level thresholds for adequate fidelity of implementation over the three years, and with the exception of attendance in Year 2 (2020-21), there were no statistically significant differences in educational outcomes based on a school's participation in the Reenergize program. Given the small school sample size, the evaluation's ability to detect small statistically significant effects is limited. Despite the challenges IDRA faced implementing Reenergize, IDRA learned valuable lessons that can inform future efforts. Assessing stakeholder capacity and aligning the program to fit within this capacity, cultivating district and school champions to advocate for and support the program, and flexibly adapting to shifting stakeholder needs are crucial when implementing a program in this context. IDRA was able to develop and maintain effective partnerships in some Reenergize schools by building on existing relationships. The effective planning and collaboration from school administrators allowed the Reenergize coaches to integrate into these schools smoothly. As IDRA continues to support schools around San Antonio, the findings from the Reenergize study and the lessons learned can inform future implementation and evaluation efforts.

This document includes seven technical appendices that accompany the main report, "Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grant Program: Round 4 Early Outcomes Study Report." The appendices include: (1) Baseline Data; (2) Follow-up Survey Data; (3) Unemployment Insurance Wage Data; (4) Service Impacts; (5) Methodology for Estimating Outcomes by Program; (6) Implementation Data Collection; and (7) Expanded Results. [This document was produced in partnership with Capital Research Corporation. For the main report, see ED610190.]

The Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program provided grants to community colleges and other eligible institutions of higher education to expand and improve their ability to deliver education and career training programs. Grant-funded colleges served workers who were eligible for training under the Trade Adjustment Assistance for Workers (TAA) program as well as other adults in need of training for in-demand occupations. In doing so, the grant program supported the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) goal of training workers with the skills to succeed in fast-growing, high-wage occupations. Between 2011 and 2014, the grant program awarded $1.9 billion across four rounds of grants to more than 1,000 colleges nationwide. The fourth and final round of grants (71 grantees, 263 colleges) ended in 2018. In order to build evidence on grant-funded programs and strategies, DOL funded a national evaluation of each grant round to collect and assess qualitative and quantitative data across all participating colleges. The Round 4 evaluation included an outcomes study, the focus of this report. This report describes the training, employment, earnings, and self-sufficiency outcomes of nearly 2,800 participants who enrolled in 34 programs at nine Round 4 grantees. The overarching research questions are: (1) What were the characteristics of study participants?; (2) In which features of training programs and services did study participants engage?; (3) What education outcomes did study participants in short-term training programs achieve?; and (4) Did participants obtain employment? If so, was it in an occupation related to their training? What were their earnings? What were the characteristics of their jobs? The analyses presented in this report use data collected from study participants at two points in time (program entry and approximately 15 months later), as well as administrative wage records. The report not only summarizes the outcomes of program participants, it provides information of use for policymakers and program operators interested in funding, designing, and implementing college-based programs to train dislocated and other workers. [This report was produced in partnership with Capital Research Corporation. For the technical appendices, see ED610213.]

Many programs and practices aim to improve college persistence and completion, including "Single Stop USA's Community College Initiative," hereafter referred to as "Single Stop." "Single Stop" supports community college students with screening and applications for public benefits and other wraparound services that can include housing, food assistance, tax preparation, child care, financial and legal services, and immigration consultations. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of "Single Stop" on persistence in college and academic achievement. The WWC identified three studies of "Single Stop." Two of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Single Stop" on first-time community college students--including Black, Hispanic, and White students--in urban, suburban, and rural settings. This intervention brief provides an overview of the full report. [For "Single Stop USA's Community College Initiative. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report. NCEE 2021-002," see ED611051. For "Single Stop USA's Community College Initiative. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Snapshot. NCEE 2021-002," see ED611053.]

Many programs and practices aim to improve college persistence and completion, including "Single Stop USA's Community College Initiative," hereafter referred to as "Single Stop." "Single Stop" supports community college students with screening and applications for public benefits and other wraparound services that can include housing, food assistance, tax preparation, child care, financial and legal services, and immigration consultations. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of "Single Stop" on persistence in college and academic achievement. The WWC identified three studies of "Single Stop." Two of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Single Stop" on first-time community college students--including Black, Hispanic, and White students--in urban, suburban, and rural settings. [For "Single Stop USA's Community College Initiative. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report. NCEE 2021-002," see ED611051. For "Single Stop USA's Community College Initiative. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Brief. NCEE 2021-002," see ED611052.]

"Success Boston Coaching" is a coaching intervention for students who are traditionally underrepresented in college to help them transition from high school to college and progress in college. Students are paired with a dedicated coach starting as early as the spring of their senior year of high school and receive coaching through their first two years in college. As Boston's citywide college completion initiative, Success Boston partners with existing nonprofit organizations focused on coaching and mentoring to deliver these one-on-one coaching services. Nonprofit coaching partners may also provide students with other direct services such as tutoring and career readiness support, and financial support that includes scholarships, transportation subsidies, and funding for school-related materials and supplies. This What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) report, part of the WWC's Supporting Postsecondary Success topic area, explores the effects of "Success Boston Coaching" on progressing in college and academic achievement. The WWC identified seven studies of "Success Boston Coaching." Two of these studies meet WWC standards. The evidence presented in this report is from studies of the impact of "Success Boston Coaching" on high school and postsecondary students-- including Asian, African-American, Hispanic, and White students--in a variety of school settings, including urban and suburban areas. [For the Intervention Brief, see ED608189. For the Intervention Snapshot, see ED608190.]