Effectiveness

Findings

The WWC review of interventions for dropout prevention addresses student outcomes in three domains: staying in school, progressing in school, and completing school. The Dynarski et al. (1998) study included in this report covers two domains: staying in school and completing school. The findings below present the authors’ estimates and WWC-calculated estimates of the size and the statistical significance of the effects of Middle College High School on students.⁸

Staying in School. Dynarski et al. (1998) reported that by the end of the second year after random assignment, 36% of students in the Middle College High School group had dropped out of school, compared with 33% of control group students—a difference that was not statistically significant. In addition, this difference was not large enough to be considered substantively important based on WWC standards (that is, an effect size of at least 0.25).

Completing School. Dynarski et al. (1998) found that 40% of students in the Middle College High School group had earned a high school diploma or GED certificate two years after random assignment, compared with 38% of control group students—a difference that was not statistically significant or substantively important.⁹

Rating of effectiveness

The WWC rates the effects of an intervention in a given outcome domain as positive, potentially positive, mixed, no discernible effects, potentially negative, or negative. The rating of effectiveness takes into account four factors: the quality of the research design, the statistical significance of the findings, the size of the difference between participants in the intervention and the comparison conditions, and the consistency in findings across studies (see the WWC Intervention Rating Scheme).