
Smoothing the Transition to Postsecondary Education: The Impact of the Early College Model
Edmunds, Julie A.; Unlu, Fatih; Glennie, Elizabeth; Bernstein, Lawrence; Fesler, Lily; Furey, Jane (2017). Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness v10 n2 p297-325. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED575019
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examining1,651Students, grades9-PS
IES Performance Measure
Review Details
Reviewed: August 2017
- IES Performance Measure (findings for Early College High School)
- 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Postsecondary enrollment - two-year institution |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.99 |
0.57 |
Yes |
|
|
Postsecondary enrollment |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.99 |
0.74 |
Yes |
|
|
Postsecondary enrollment - four-year institution |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.40 |
0.32 |
Yes |
|
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Associates degree attainment |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.28 |
0.03 |
Yes |
|
|
Postsecondary degree attainment |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.56 |
0.04 |
Yes |
|
|
Technical credential attainment |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.02 |
0.01 |
Yes |
|
|
Bachelor's degree attainment |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.01 |
0.00 |
Yes |
-- |
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Five-year high school graduation rate (%) |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
5 Years |
Full sample;
|
0.88 |
0.81 |
No |
-- |
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
College credits earned in high school |
Early College High School vs. Business as usual |
4 Years |
Full sample;
|
21.60 |
2.80 |
Yes |
|
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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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Male: 41% -
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North Carolina
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Race Black 27% White 60% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 8%
Study Details
Setting
Students participating in the study applied to attend one of 12 early college high schools in North Carolina. Students who were not admitted to the early college high school attended their traditional district high school or another high school. All participating early college high schools had more applicants than space available.
Study sample
The study sample was 26.7% black, 8.3% Hispanic, and 60.2% white. The sample was 41% male, 40.8% first-generation college students, and 50.7% free/reduced price lunch eligible. 80 percent of the sample passed the 8th grade math exam and 79.5% passed the 8th grade reading exam. The sample included 2.9% disabled or impaired students, 14.8% gifted students, and 4.1% students who had ever been retained.
Intervention Group
The study examines the effectiveness of the early college high school model, which is a school reform model of concurrent enrollment in high school and college. The study took place in North Carolina. The early college high schools that participated in the study were primarily located on a two- or four-year college campus. Early college high school students are expected to take a college preparatory course of study and graduate with two years of transferable college credit or an associate's degree. Early college high schools coordinate with their college partners to offer courses that allow students to earn a high school degree and college credit, including dual-credit courses. Most early college high schools allow students five years to complete a degree. North Carolina early college high schools are expected to adhere to six design principles: ensuring that students are ready for college, instilling powerful teaching and learning, providing high student/staff personalization, redefining professionalism, leadership, and implementing a purposeful design.
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison condition generally enrolled in the traditional high school in their district. Two percent of students enrolled in early college high schools.
Support for implementation
The study does not describe any support for implementation. Schools were expected to implement a specific set of principles developed by North Carolina New Schools, a public-private partnership that managed the early college high schools in North Carolina.
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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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.
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The number of students included in the analysis.
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The mean score of students in the comparison group.
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Study findings for this report.
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