Song, Mengli; Zeiser, Kristina L. (2019). American Institutes for Research. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED602451
Reviewed: March 2024
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.
Reviewed: April 2020
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 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
college enrollment within 1 year of high school graduaton |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
63.80 |
23.00 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Enrollment in a two-year college within 1 year of high school graduaton |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
48.90 |
11.30 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Enrollment in a four-year college within 1 year of high school graduaton |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
22.30 |
9.10 |
No |
-- | ||
|
enrolled in 2-year college |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
65.80 |
46.80 |
Yes |
|
||
|
enrolled in college |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
84.20 |
77.00 |
Yes |
|
||
|
enrolled in 4-year college |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
57.60 |
56.70 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
postsecondary degree attainment within 6 years after high school graduation |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
45.40 |
33.50 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
completion of an associate's degree or certificate 6 years after high school graduation |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
29.30 |
11.10 |
Yes |
|
||
|
completion of a bachelor's degree within 6 years after high school graduation |
Early College High Schools vs. Business as usual |
6 Years |
Full sample;
|
30.10 |
24.90 |
Yes |
|
||
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
An Early College is a program through which high school students can take college-level courses and obtain credit at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. This study involved 10 Early Colleges located in five states: North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Five of these Early Colleges were located in urban areas, two were in midsized cities, and three were in small towns. Eight of the Early Colleges in this study partnered with 2-year colleges, and two partnered with 4-year colleges.
The study sample included 2,458 students who were randomly assigned to an Early College or a typical high school when they were in grades 9-12. Approximately half of the sample was female, half was non-White, and half was eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Less than a quarter of the study participants were first-generation college students.
The Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI) is a dual enrollment program, which aims to help underrepresented students by offering them the opportunity to take college-level courses and have associated credits counted both at the high school and postsecondary levels. To implement the program, Early Colleges partner with postsecondary institutions and arrange for all tuition costs to be covered. The intervention includes providing academic and social supports to ensure that students earn one or two years of college credit and thereby improve their chances of completing college.
Students in the comparison condition attended different high schools after participating in lotteries used to determine if they could attend an Early College.
Early Colleges are meant to be sustained by a postsecondary institution, a local education agency, and community supports.
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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