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The Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP) is an intensive and comprehensive program for high school-aged youth that offers case management, mentoring, tutoring, and other education and support services. The program also offers financial incentives for participation in program activities. Participants enter QOP in the ninth grade and can receive services for four to five years, even if they drop out of school or move to another district.
One study of the Quantum Opportunity Program met the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards with reservations. This randomized controlled trial included nearly 1,100 youth and was conducted in seven school districts in Cleveland, Ohio; Fort Worth, Texas; Houston, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; Washington, DC; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Yakima, Washington. 1 The WWC considers the extent of evidence for QOP to be small for progressing in school and for completing school. No studies that met WWC evidence standards with or without reservations addressed staying in school.
The Quantum Opportunity Program was found to have no discernible effects on progressing in school or completing school.
| Staying in school | Progressing in school | Completing school | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rating of effectiveness | na | No discernible effects | No discernible effects |
| Improvement index2 | na | Average: +2 percentile points | Average: +4 percentile points |
| na = not applicable | |||
The QOP study that this intervention report summarizes was prepared by staff of Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. (MPR). Because the principal investigator for the WWC dropout prevention review is an MPR staff member, the study was rated by staff members from Caliber, an ICF International Company, who also prepared the intervention report. The report was then reviewed by MPR staff members, as well as members of the WWC Technical Review Team and external peer reviewers.
|Institute of Education Sciences
Dropout