Resources

This journal article discusses a study in which researchers used a quasiexperimental design to evaluate a low-intensity intervention aimed at preventing dating violence among college students. The integrated behavioral model was used to guide the evaluation. The results suggest that low-resource interventions have a modest effect on increasing bystander behaviors.

This journal article discusses a study investigating the short- and longterm impacts of "GO Centers," a student-run, college information program that provides information about all aspects of the college-going process to academically prepared Texas public school students on the margin of attending college. The results indicate that GO Centers led to a large increase in college application rates and a small increase in college enrollment rates but no increase in college completion rates.

In this journal article, researchers estimate the effects of Washington’s College Bound Scholarship program on students’ high school grades, high school graduation, juvenile detention and rehabilitation, and incarceration in state prison during high school or early adulthood. The findings indicate insignificant and substantively small or negative effects on these outcomes, calling into question the rationale for such early commitment programs.

This journal article discusses a study evaluating the effectiveness of math placement policies for entering community college students on these students' academic success in math. Researchers estimate the impact of placement decisions by using a discrete-time survival model within a regression discontinuity framework. The primary conclusion that emerges is that initial placement in a lower level course increases the time until a student at the margin completes the higher level course they were not assigned to by about a year on average, but in most cases, after this time period, the penalty was small and not statistically significant.

In this journal article, researchers discuss findings from a study investigating the effect of students losing merit-based HOPE scholarships midway through college. The findings suggest that losing one’s scholarship results in a small degree of detachment from college and a rise in earnings of about 14 cents per dollar of lost aid but no affect on timely degree completion.

Projects

AIR is evaluating the implementation and impact of the New Tech Network’s (NTN) partnership with 10 high schools in Texas, which is intended to improve student advising during the transition to college. The goals of this evaluation are to help NTN address any implementation issues and determine the effectiveness of their revised advising practices.

AIR conducted an evaluation of the Say Yes to Education Syracuse City School District Program, a citywide collaborative intervention aimed at improving educational outcomes and educational attainment for all Syracuse students. The goals of the evaluation were to examine broad K-12 student outcomes in the context of the Say Yes program and to address the multiple barriers to college access in urban populations characterized by socioeconomic disadvantage.

AIR is evaluating STEMfast, a program developed by New Mexico Highlands University to provide comprehensive support services to Hispanic students and students from low-income backgrounds who are studying science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. STEMfast addresses the underrepresentation of these students in STEM fields and works to decrease the likelihood that developmental core subject courses will deter these students from persisting and graduating from college.

AIR is analyzing 20 years of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 panel using an individual fixed-effects regression strategy. The purpose of the analysis is to estimate the returns to non-credit-bearing credential and licensure pathways compared with credit-bearing credential and associate degree programs that are unrelated to persistent differences in the respondents’ characteristics (e.g., ability). Findings show that credit-bearing credentials yield an approximately equal likelihood to be employed as noncredit-bearing credentials, but significantly improved earnings of about $7,000 a year.

The Regional Educational Laboratory Midwest, operated by AIR, is conducting a study to better understand career and technical education (CTE) course offerings in Indiana and Minnesota and identify gaps in access to high-quality CTE programming in these states.