Building College and Career Pathways for High School Students: Youth CareerConnect. Impact Findings Report

In 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awarded $107 million in four-year grants to 24 applicants for the Youth CareerConnect (YCC) program, a high school-based program that blended academic and career-focused learning to better prepare students for both college and careers in high-growth industries that often rely on foreign workers. The program included employer partnerships and engagement, integrated academic and career curricula, work-based learning and exposure to the world of work, individualized career and academic counseling, small learning communities, and professional development. After four school years of enrolling students, 31,019 students in 130 high schools in 18 states and Puerto Rico had participated in the YCC program. DOL contracted with Mathematica and its subcontractor Social Policy Research Associates to conduct an evaluation of the YCC program that included both an implementation and impact study. This report focuses on the impact study and answers the research question, "What is the impact of the YCC program on critical milestones and momentum points that can be achieved in high school and are associated with education and employment success?" It does so using two rigorous components: a quasi-experimental design (QED) in 16 school districts (6,207 YCC students and 109,541 comparable non-YCC students), and a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in four school districts that were also part of the QED. It drew information from three data sources: (1) the Participant Tracking System, which tracked services and activities for all YCC students; (2) school records in the 16 QED school districts; and (3) a survey completed by 279 treatment and 157 control group students in three of the four RCT school districts. Students in the RCT were randomly assigned into a treatment group who was offered the opportunity to enroll in the YCC program or into a control group excluded from the YCC program. Our estimations show that the YCC program had small beneficial impacts. Our primary analysis found that it increased school attendance by 0.7 percentage points (from about 90.7 to 91.5 percent) and moved a student who is at the 50th percentile in accumulating credits for high school graduation to approximately the 54th percentile. The primary analysis also showed that the YCC program might increase proficiency in English language arts. No evidence existed that the YCC program had an effect on students completing algebra coursework. Our secondary analysis showed few differences in impacts across student subgroups based on prior academic achievement and low-income status. Impacts did tend to be larger for students who received an internship, had a mentor, or completed an individual development plan, although these effects might be partly driven by factors that influence both service participation and program outcomes. It also appeared that impacts grew stronger as the program matured. Our results have several implications for future research. First, research might explore whether the small but significant impacts on milestones and momentum points that students could achieve while in high school translate into education and employment success after high school. Second, research might explore the mechanisms that produced the stronger impacts found when students received an internship, had a mentor, or completed an individual development plan. [This report was co-produced by Social Policy Research Associates.]