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.

Completing school. The Texas and Florida studies examined the program's effects on the likelihood that students received a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) certificate within five years of entering ninth grade. The Texas study indicated that Talent Search participants completed school at a significantly higher rate than comparison group students—86% compared with 77%. The Florida study indicated that Talent Search participants completed school at a significantly higher rate than comparison group students—84% compared with 70%. Neither study examined the separate effect of Talent Search on receipt of high school diplomas compared with attainment of GED certificates.

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,⁵ the size of the difference between participants in the intervention condition and the comparison condition, and the consistency in findings across studies (see the WWC Intervention Rating Scheme).