Project Activities
This project builds on previous work in which the research team developed both transcript analysis procedures and user-friendly student and school reports to present analysis results to students, counselors, and administrators. Counselors and administrators in 80 California high schools have used these reports and accompanying school-level databases and outreach services. In this project, the research team will use an iterative development and evaluation process to refine transcript data analysis routines and the reports generated from those analyses, develop a web-based data analysis tool for counselors and administrators that accommodates their limited computer literacy and data analysis skills, and enhance the TES website to provide increased support to counselors and administrators who use TES tools. The research team will thus further develop TES into a comprehensive and coordinated intervention that will (1) offer data tools to students, counselors, and school administrators; (2) provide effective outreach services to support counselors and administrators in using the TES data tools effectively; and (3) compile evidence about the feasibility of implementing TES in California schools and districts.
Structured Abstract
Setting
Participating schools are located in California.
Sample
The program will be implemented in 50 public high schools. Participants include high school students, counselors, principals, and outreach staff at 10 University of California campuses. The high schools range in size from 160 to 4,700 students and serve 92 percent non-white students and 27 percent English learners, compared with 71 and 24 percent non-white students and English learners, respectively, statewide.
Intervention
The intervention model combines several strategies that together are expected to address students' lack of information and guidance on what is required for college admission, building on research findings that counselors can make a difference in college-going, and that school administrators can use student data to allocate resources in ways that improve student outcomes. TES includes two components: (1) a set of data tools, including student progress reports, information on college preparatory courses completed and needed, and aggregate student-level data to identify patterns within a school; and (2) related outreach services conducted by University of California staff to help students, counselors, and administrators in TES schools use the data tools effectively. Outreach services are focused on providing information to counselors, students, and their families to improve course-taking and college planning by and for individual students.
Research design and methods
The research team has identified several specific next steps in the development of TES, including: (1) optimizing the transcript analysis procedures; (2) refining student reports by translating them into Spanish and adding more financial aid-related information; (3) developing a web-based Transcript Analysis Tool (TAT) that provides a user-friendly web interface for the school databases; and (4) seeking feedback on an iterative basis from various users regarding the student reports, student rosters, summary reports, web tool, and outreach services to develop and refine them further. In addition, the research team will gather process data for three purposes: (1) to develop and refine the data tools and outreach services; (2) to examine the feasibility of using the tools and procedures to achieve the desired outcomes; and (3) to begin to assess the potential impact of the intervention. These data will be collected from University of California Outreach Staff on an ongoing basis, and from students, counselors, and school administrators at three data collection points.
Key measures
Because TES is designed as a school-based and school-wide intervention, the school will be the unit of analysis. All measures that are collected and analyzed will be school-level measures. Process measures to be examined include delivery of transcript reports and analysis tools, and use of these by students, counselors, principals, and UC outreach staff. To begin to assess the potential impact of the intervention on student outcomes and provide a basis for future efforts to assess more rigorously this impact, the research team will analyze selected measures of student coursetaking using transcript data from a sample of participating schools. Intermediate outcomes will include college preparatory course offerings, enrollment, completion, and GPA, as well as first-time pass rates on the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE).
Data analytic strategy
The research team will conduct a trend analysis on selected process and outcome measures in TES schools. The team will also conduct a comparative analysis analyzing changes in first-time CAHSEE pass rates in TES schools and a matched sample of similar high schools statewide not participating in TES, using California's School Characteristics Index (SCI) or a propensity score matching algorithm to identify schools with similar demographics.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Products and publications
Products: Products from this project include an intervention designed to improve high school students' academic preparedness for college.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
