Summer Nudging: Can Personalized Text Messages and Peer Mentor Outreach Increase College Going among Low-Income High School Graduates?
Castleman, Benjamin L.; Page, Lindsay C. (2016). Perspectives in Peer Programs, v27 n1 p11-15. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1124459
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examining443Students, gradePS
Grant Competition
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2017
- Grant Competition (findings for Peer mentoring)
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with low attrition.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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College enrollment |
Peer mentoring vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
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65.20 |
67.50 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 56%
Male: 44% -
Urban
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Pennsylvania
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Race Black 95% Other or unknown 2%
Study Details
Setting
The study involved peer mentoring for students who had recently graduated from five Mastery Charter Schools high schools.
Study sample
Fifty-six percent of the Philadelphia analytic sample were female, 95 were percent Black, and 2 percent were identified as other race/ethnicity. Sixty-five percent qualified for free/reduced priced lunch.
Intervention Group
The peer mentoring intervention involved peer mentors (students already attending college) making contact with students and assessing their readiness to matriculate in college in the fall semester. Peer mentors discussed with their mentees various topics, including "whether students (1) were still planning to enroll in college; (2) were planning to follow through on their previously articulated plan; (3) had completed the FAFSA; (4) had received and reviewed a financial aid award letter; and (5) had registered for orientation and placement tests" (p. 150). Subsequent meetings and phone conversations served to address any other issues the students may have encountered.
Comparison Group
The students in the comparison condition did not receive the peer mentoring intervention and continued their usual activities.
Support for implementation
"uAspire and Mastery were responsible for peer mentor selection, training, ongoing support and supervision of the mentors throughout the summer" (p. 150). The study report did not discuss any other support for implementation.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
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The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
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Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).