The Effects of Accelerated College Credit Programs on Educational Attainment in Rhode Island. REL 2021-103
Shields, Katherine A.; Bailey, Jessica; Hanita, Makoto; Zhang, Xinxin (2021). Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED612887
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examining3,916Students, grades9-PS
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: September 2021
- Single Study Review (findings for Accelerated college credit programs)
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it uses a quasi-experimental design in which the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
College enrollment within one year of graduation |
Accelerated college credit programs vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
84.00 |
54.00 |
Yes |
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|
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrollment in developmental education courses in first year of college |
Accelerated college credit programs vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
39.00 |
21.00 |
Yes |
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|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
High School Graduation |
Accelerated college credit programs vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
|
96.00 |
75.00 |
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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5% English language learners -
Female: 52%
Male: 48% -
Rural, Suburban, Urban
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Rhode Island
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Race Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study includes students who were in 9th grade in a Rhode Island high school in the 2013-2014 school year.
Study sample
The total study sample included 3,916 students from 57 high schools: 1,958 treatment and 1,958 comparison students. Just over one-third (34%) of students were of a racial or ethnic minority background, and just under half were male (48%). Very few (5%) were multilingual learners or had IEPs (7%), and over one-third (37%) were eligible for the National School Lunch Program.
Intervention Group
The intervention included enrollment in any of three accelerated college credit programs while in high school: (1) dual enrollment, (2) concurrent enrollment, and (3) taking an Advanced Placement (AP) test. In the dual enrollment programs, students enrolled in courses in a local community college (two-year public or private college), on campus or online. Instructions was delivered by college faculty. The tuition for enrollment in Rhode Island public colleges was paid for by the state. Students earned both high school and college credit. In concurrent enrollment programs, students enrolled in approved college courses at their own high school, taught by high school teachers who are adjunct faculty members at a college. There were no additional costs to students for these courses. Students earned both high school and college credit. Students enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, taught by regular high school teachers, for no additional cost but must pay a fee to take the College Board-administered AP test. Data on actual enrollment in AP courses was not available, so the study only considered whether students took an AP test.
Comparison Group
Students in the matched comparison condition were students in high school who did not participate in any accelerated college credit program.
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.
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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).