Enhancing GED Instruction to Prepare Students for College and Careers: Early Success in LaGuardia Community College's Bridge to Health and Business Program. Policy Brief
Martin, Vanessa; Broadus, Joseph (2013). MDRC. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED544256
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examining276Students, gradePS
Publication
Review Details
Reviewed: December 2020
- Publication (findings for Adult Education)
- 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
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrolling in community college |
Adult Education vs. Business as usual |
12 Months |
Full sample;
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24.10 |
7.20 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Completed GED |
Adult Education vs. Business as usual |
12 Months |
Full sample;
|
52.80 |
22.40 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrolled in community college for second semester |
Adult Education vs. Business as usual |
12 Months |
Full sample;
|
11.50 |
2.60 |
Yes |
|
|
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: 67%
Male: 33% -
Urban
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New York
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Race Black 35% Other or unknown 66% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 50% Not Hispanic or Latino 50%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in a community college in the Mid-Atlantic.
Study sample
The initial sample consisted of 276 learners. These learners scored at a 7th grade reading level or higher, were age 18 or older, and had an income below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Sixty-seven percent of learners were female; the average age of learners was about 27. Just over 50 percent were Hispanic or Latino, about 35 percent were non-Hispanic/Latino African American, and 15 percent were of other races or ethnicities. About 53 percent were receiving public assistance, and 38 percent were employed when randomly assigned. Twenty-five percent scored at the 7th or 8th grade reading levels, whereas 16 percent scored at the 9th grade level, and 34 percent scored at the 10th grade level or higher. About 15 percent attained a 9th grade education or lower, whereas 30 percent finished 10th grade, 36 percent finished 11th grade, and 9 percent finished 12th grade; 10 percent did not report the grade level they had attained.
Intervention Group
The GED Bridge to Health and Business program is a curriculum preparing learners for the high school equivalency exam, and it also promotes general academic habits that will help learners succeed in later college classes or training programs. The program uses a "contextualized curriculum" that aligns instruction to one of two professional focuses: health or business. The program is structured and delivered in a fashion similar to a regular college course, with the aim of familiarizing learners with this format so they are more prepared for college. Instruction was provided for 108 hours over 12 weeks. Learners also receive one-on-one guidance to help explore career and educational options. GED Bridge instructors were full-time, master’s-level educators trained in adult literacy instruction and contextualized curriculum development.
Comparison Group
The comparison group continued to use existing high school equivalency exam preparation practices in a program called GED Prep offered at the college. Instruction was provided for 60 hours over nine weeks, and materials included only the high school equivalency exam textbook. No counseling or support were provided. GED Prep instructors were part-time adjunct instructors with some background in adult education, but they were not trained in adult literacy.
Support for implementation
The study does not provide specific information about 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.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
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.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
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).