Theodos, Brett; Pergamit, Michael R.; Hanson, Devlin; Edelstein, Sara; Daniels, Rebecca; Srini, Tanaya (2017). Urban Institute. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED615700
Reviewed: October 2023
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 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Attended College within 1 Year of Expected Graduation |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
63.70 |
58.30 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Attended 4-Year College Within 1 Year of Expected Graduation |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
53.40 |
45.30 |
Yes |
|
|
|
|
Attended 4-Year College Within 2 Years of Expected Graduation |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
57.90 |
49.40 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Attended College Within 2 Years of Expected Graduation |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
69.10 |
64.20 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Attended 2-Year College within 2 Years of Expected Graduation |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
16.20 |
19.20 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Attended 2-Year College within 1 Year of Expected Graduation |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
10.70 |
13.30 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Completed 1 year of college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
52.20 |
45.30 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Attained two-year degree or enrolled in third year |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
27.80 |
21.70 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Completed 2 years of college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
30.20 |
24.40 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed 1 year of 4-year college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
46.50 |
40.60 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed 2 years of 4-year college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
28.60 |
24.40 |
No |
-- | ||
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Black | 89% | |
| Other or unknown | 9% | |
| White | 2% |
| Hispanic | 5% | |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 95% |
| Free or reduced price lunch (FRPL) | 77% | |
| No FRPL | 23% |
The study took place in 38 public and charter high schools located in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD.
The researchers randomly assigned 700 students to the intervention group and 362 students to the comparison group. A total of 1,043 students in grade 12 were included in the study. Approximately 65% of students were female, 11% were English learners, and 9% were in special education. Students were drawn from schools where 77% of the students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Eighty-nine percent were Black, 2% were White, and 9% did not report race. Five percent were Hispanic or Latino. Nearly a quarter of the students (23%) reported that no adults in their household were employed, although three quarters of applicants reported at least some prior work experience of their own.
The Urban Alliance High School Internship Program provides training, mentoring, and work experience to high school seniors at risk of not transitioning to further education or meaningful work. The program is offered to individual students who apply to participate in an out-of-school supplemental program. The program’s key elements are (1) a paid internship in an office setting, (2) soft and hard skills job training, which occurs both before the internship in the “pre-work” phase as well as through the remainder of the year, concurrent with the internship, (3) coaching and mentoring provided by Urban Alliance program coordinators and job mentors at the internship site, and (4) alumni services consisting of individual coaching, alumni events, and paid internship opportunities during the summer break from college. The program is offered from September to July of the students’ senior year of high school. Urban Alliance conducts three-week training workshops in the early fall to prepare the youth for their internships. In late fall, Urban Alliance participants attend their internships from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. after school from Monday through Thursday and attend workshops on Friday afternoons. This schedule requires that interns obtain permission for an early-release class schedule during their senior year of high school. During the summer following graduation, Urban Alliance interns work full days from Monday through Thursday and attend half-day workshops every Friday.
The comparison condition received business-as-usual 12th grade experiences and consisted of students who applied to the Urban Alliance program but were not accepted into the program.
The program is primarily implemented by program coordinators employed by Urban Alliance. Each program coordinator has a caseload of approximately 30 to 35 interns whom they support throughout the program. Program coordinators provide additional support to employers and jobsite mentors as necessary.
In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.
Theodos, Brett; Pergamit, Michael R.; Edelstein, Sara; George, Taz; Freiman, Lesley. (2014). Preparing Youth for College and Career: A Process Evaluation of Urban Alliance. Urban Institute.
Theodos, Brett; Pergamit, Michael R.; Hanson, Devlin; Edelstein, Sara; Daniels, Rebecca. (2016). Embarking on College and Career: Interim Evaluation of Urban Alliance. Research Report. Urban Institute.
Reviewed: November 2021
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 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Attended college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
63.70 |
58.30 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Attended 4-year college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
53.40 |
45.30 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Attended 2-year college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Semester |
Full sample;
|
10.70 |
13.30 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Completed 1 year of college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
52.20 |
45.30 |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Completed 2 years of college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
30.20 |
24.40 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed 1 year of 4-year college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
46.50 |
40.60 |
No |
-- | ||
|
Completed 2 years of 4-year college |
Urban Alliance High School Internship Program vs. Business as usual |
2 Years |
Full sample;
|
28.60 |
24.40 |
No |
-- | ||
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Black | 89% | |
| Other or unknown | 9% | |
| White | 2% |
| Hispanic | 5% | |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 95% |
Study participants were high school seniors in 2011–12 and 2012–13 from 38 public and charter schools located in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD.
The majority of the study participants were female (65%) and Black (89%), with 5 percent identifying as Hispanic, 2 percent as white, and 4 percent as another race or ethnicity. Eleven percent were English language learners and 9 percent were in special education. Nearly a quarter of the students (23%) reported that no adults in their household were employed, although three quarters of applicants reported at least some prior work experience of their own. Students were drawn from schools where 77 percent of the students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
The Urban Alliance High School Internship Program provides training, mentoring, and work experience to at-risk high school seniors from distressed communities. The goal of the program is to help youth successfully transition to higher education or employment after graduation by offering them training, an internship, and mentoring. Key components of the program include: (1) a paid internship in an office setting; (2) soft and hard skills job training, which occurs both before the internship in the “pre-work” phase as well as through the remainder of the year; (3) coaching and mentoring; and (4) alumni services consisting of individual coaching, alumni events, and paid internship opportunities during the summer break from college. Youth begin the program in the fall of their senior year by attending a 3- to 6-week (depending on location) pre-training workshop for 1 to 1.5 hours each day after school. After completing the pre-training workshop, youth are paired with a paid internship based on skill levels, needs, interests, and the range of internships available. Participants work at their internships from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. after school Monday through Thursday during the school year. During the summer following graduation (and optionally during winter and spring breaks), interns work full days Monday through Thursday. Program coordinators continue mentoring and coaching the youth throughout the program. They track their performance in workshop and job attendance, punctuality, workshop homework assignments, academic progress, and post–high school planning. Program coordinators support youth emotionally and connect them with any external resources they may need.
The comparison condition received business as usual, and consisted of students who applied to the Urban Alliance program but were not accepted into the program.
Urban Alliance conducts training workshops, including pre-work training before the start of the internship, and workshops after the internships start. Interns are typically employed and paid by Urban Alliance while working at their internship sites, though select job sites pay interns directly. In addition to the workshops, program coordinators provide job mentoring and general coaching, track individual student performance, and connect students with external resources to meet their needs.
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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