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Dropout
Research
Fifteen studies reviewed by the WWC investigated the effects of Middle College High School. One study (Dynarski et al., 1998) is a randomized controlled trial that meets WWC evidence standards. The remaining 14 studies do not meet either WWC evidence standards or eligibility screens.
The Dynarski et al. (1998) study of Middle College High School was part of a larger evaluation examining the effectiveness of 16 middle school and high school dropout prevention programs. The Middle College High School study used a random assignment design and included 394 students who applied to attend the alternative high school, which was operated by Seattle Public Schools in cooperation with Seattle Central Community College. Study participants were generally older students—their average age was just under 18—who were over-age for grade or had dropped out of school. Students assigned to the control group did not receive Middle College High School services; however, they were free to participate in other regular and alternative education programs in the community. Most of them participated in one of these other education options. Findings presented in this report were drawn from a follow-up survey administered about two years after random assignment.6
Extent of evidence
The WWC categorizes the extent of evidence in each domain as small or medium to large (see the What Works Clearinghouse Extent of Evidence Categorization Scheme). The extent of evidence takes into account the number of studies and the total sample size across the studies that meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations.7
The WWC considers the extent of evidence for Middle College High School to be small for both staying in school and completing school. No studies that meet WWC evidence standards with or without reservations examined the effectiveness of Middle College High School in the progressing in school domain.
6 An additional follow-up survey was conducted at the end of year three with an early cohort of study participants. Because of relatively low response rates to
this survey, as well as evidence of substantial intervention-control differences in baseline characteristics among respondents, these third-year results were
not used in the WWC rating of the effectiveness of Middle College High School. These results are summarized in Appendices A4.2 and A4.3.
7 The extent of evidence categorization was developed to tell readers how much evidence was used to determine the intervention rating, focusing on
the number and size of studies. Additional factors associated with a related concept—external validity, such as the students’ demographics and the
types of settings in which studies took place—are not taken into account for the categorization. Information about how the extent of evidence rating
was determined for Middle College High School is in Appendix A6.