Myers, D., Olsen, R., Seftor, N., Young, J., & Tuttle, C. (2004). Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research. . Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED518667
Reviewed: December 2022
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.
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Graduated from high school |
Upward Bound vs. Business as usual |
3 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.89 |
0.90 |
No |
-- |
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Enrolled in 4-year college |
Upward Bound vs. Business as usual |
5 Years |
Full sample;
|
N/A |
N/A |
No |
-- |
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Black | 44% | |
| Other or unknown | 8% | |
| White | 25% |
| Hispanic | 20% |
Upward Bound is a national federal program aimed at helping disadvantaged high school students to enroll and succeed in college. The sample selected is nationally representative of this groups and reflects students who participated in the program during the mid-90s.
Eligible UB students had to be low-income or first-generation college attendees and meet other federal qualifications necessary for program participation. Of the student participants, 79% were low-income and potential first-generation college students, about 50% were African American, and 22% were Hispanic at baseline.
Upward Bound offers a variety of academic courses and non-academic activities. Academic courses included English, ESL, Foreign language, Math, Computers, Science, Social Science and electives. English, math, and science had the highest levels of participation for academic courses. Non-academic activities covered college preparedness, career exploration, self-awareness, field trips, cultural awareness, counseling sessions and skill development. College preparedness, counseling sessions and skill development had the highest participation for non-academic courses. Among UB programs in 1995, 68% of projects were hosted by four-year colleges, 28% by two-year colleges, and 4% by CBO's and High Schools. Projects are required to provide 5-8 weeks of service each summer and to reinforce the summer experience with at least weekly services during the school year. On average, Upward Bound participants attended about 265 academic UB sessions; 174 of the sessions occurred during the summer program, and 91 sessions occurred during the academic year. On average, participants attended 212 nonacademic activities sessions, which were equally split across the summer and school year. Among projects nationally, project staff generally hold a bachelor's or graduate degree, many are from the same racial/ethnic group as the majority of their participants.
The counterfactual is absence of Upward Bound. Many of the students assigned to both treatment and control participated in precollege services other than Upward Bound. Also, a footnote on page 5 indicates that there was some degree of crossover between the treatment and control groups (i.e., some of the control groups used UB services). Sensitivity analyses suggested this crossover had no effect on the substantive results.
Program exposure and intensity varied for study participants, as students can potentially participate all 4 years of high school. Among the study sample, approximately 80% of students assigned to the treatment received some Upward Bound services, while the other 20% never participated in any activities. Of those who did participate, the typical number of months in UB was 19 and about 40% of those who applied for UB in eighth grade or later were still in the program in spring of their senior year of high school. There was large variability in the number of academic sessions attended by participants, the bottom quartile participated in 201 or fewer sessions, while the top quartile participated in 704 or more sessions
Reviewed: February 2016
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.
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).
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