Creating a Future-Oriented Culture in High Schools: The Impact of the College and Career Readiness Expansion (CCRE) Project
Edmunds, Julie A.; Grebing, Eric M.; Coyle, Victoria C.; Rosof, Laura; Henson, Bob A.; Cardwell, Ramsey (2021). SERVE Center at University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED615909
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examining62,557Students, grades9-12
Department-funded evaluation
Review Details
Reviewed: February 2022
- Department-funded evaluation (findings for College and Career Readiness Expansion (CCRE) Project)
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it uses a cluster quasi-experimental design that provides evidence of effects on clusters by demonstrating that the analytic sample of individuals is representative of the clusters and satisfying the baseline equivalence requirement for the clusters in the analytic intervention and comparison groups.
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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On track for high school graduation (%) |
College and Career Readiness Expansion (CCRE) Project vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade: 9 in 2017-18 or 2018-19;
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60.20 |
54.40 |
Yes |
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On track for high school graduation (%) |
College and Career Readiness Expansion (CCRE) Project vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Grade: 10 in 2018-19;
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56.90 |
50.40 |
Yes |
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Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Student dropout |
College and Career Readiness Expansion (CCRE) Project vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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3.10 |
3.80 |
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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Rural, Suburban, Urban
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Ohio
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Race Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The College and Career Readiness Expansion project (CCRE) was implemented in 16 high schools across seven districts. The participating schools and districts represented the geographic diversity of the Central Ohio area. Using National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) locale codes from the Common Core of Data, four (25%) were urban, nine (56%) were suburban, and three (19%) were rural.
Study sample
The authors did not report the percentage of students in the analysis sample by race, ethnicity, gender, or other demographic characteristics. Based on calculations made by the WWC using reported data, the analysis sample (for the school dropout outcome, the largest analytic sample size) included 62% of students classified as "economically disadvantaged" and 47.5% identified as a member of an underrepresented race or ethnicity.
Intervention Group
The College and Career Readiness Expansion (CCRE) Project is designed to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and who are prepared for enrollment and success in postsecondary education across comprehensive high schools in seven districts in the Central Ohio area. The CCRE model includes a suite of services—a regional governance structure, professional development and coaching for district and school staff, curriculum development and alignment, professional development for college faculty, student support activities, a district strategic implementation plan, leadership development, district-provided professional development, and creation of integrated 9-14 pathways with work-based learning—that are intended to support a school’s implementation of a whole-school reform model. These activities are expected to result in structural and instructional changes at the school level that are intended to lead to improved student outcomes. A primary emphasis of the program is on increasing the number of students who participate in college level courses while in high school.
Comparison Group
Schools in the comparison condition offered business-as-usual opportunities for students to earn college credits while enrolled in high school and did not receive any of the CCRE intervention components. These schools were also outside the service area of Columbus State Community College, one of the intervention's implementation partners.
Support for implementation
The following Key Components were included as implementation supports: 1) creation of a regional governance structure, 2) professional development and coaching for district and school staff, 3) curriculum development and alignment, 4) professional development for college faculty, 5) student support activities 6) creation of a strategic implementation plan, 7) leadership coaching for principals and selected administrative staff, 8) professional development for school staff, and 9) creation of integrated 9–14 pathways.
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.
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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.
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Study findings for this report.
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as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).