Project Choice: Lessons Learned.

Project Choice began with a simple goal: to increase the number of inner-city students who graduate from high school on time and become productive members of society. To that end, Ewing M. Kauffman, his Foundation, and associates designed and implemented a program that promised postsecondary education or training to some students in the Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri area as an incentive to stay in school. This report details the evolution of Project Choice from its planning in 1987 through 1996, when members of the first class began graduating from 4-year institutions. The report provides a candid account of the successes and failures of Project Choice, and shows how the Project Choice experience led the Kauffman Foundation to change the way it contributes to programs for children and youth. Ten lessons from Project Choice are outlined: (1) inner city youth can succeed; (2) support services are crucial; (3) flexibility is key; (4) the attention of caring adults is more powerful than the incentive of postsecondary education; (5) kids need ongoing rewards and recognition; (6) parents count; (7) high school graduation is not an end; (8) incentive is expensive; (9) schools opt out of the game when they are not full members from the outset; and (10) permanence requires community partnership. The long-term self-sufficiency of Project Choice students is still untested, and their lives as productive workers are just beginning, but the program did meet its goal of increasing the number of students who stayed in school. Of the 1,394 students who signed Project Choice agreements, 628 went to college and 87 went to vocational, technical, or business schools. Information is also provided about program costs. (SLD)