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An Evaluation of GEAR UP on College Readiness Outcomes
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| Presenter(s):
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| Megan France, James Madison University, francemk@jmu.edu
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| Jennifer Bausmith, The College Board, jbausmith@collegeboard.org
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| Abstract:
This study evaluated the impact of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) on college readiness outcomes using an innovative quasi-experimental design. GEAR UP is designed to increase the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education. A method of identifying comparable schools was developed by creating a school-level composite score of SAT, PSAT/MNSQT (PN), and AP participation and performance. Using these composite scores, 173 comparison schools were matched to 173 schools that had implemented GEAR UP. Given the goals of GEAR UP, statistically significant increases in participation and performance were expected in the GEAR UP school cohorts after the implementation of GEAR UP when compared to the comparable school cohorts. The results were encouraging with regard to GEAR UP, suggesting the program increases the number of low-income students who are prepared to enter and succeed in postsecondary education.
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Visualizing Postsecondary Education Outcomes: Using Path Code Analysis to Map Six Year Enrollment and Completion Patterns of Gear Up and Talent Search Participants
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| Presenter(s):
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| Laura Massell, Vermont Student Assistance, massell@vsac.org
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| Abstract:
This session presents an adaptive use of Robinson's (2004) path code analysis to illuminate individual postsecondary pathways within a cohort of GEAR UP and Talent Search students, two federal programs intended to promote college readiness and access to economically disadvantaged youth. Each student's semester by semester college going behavior was assigned a numerical code, and then charted over a six year period. The result allows for a nuanced illustration of when and where students enter college, transition from one institution to another, complete a degree(s), and/or depart the postsecondary education system. The visual representation of pathway data makes the complex phenomenon of student enrollment patterns comprehensible to a variety of stakeholders. Moreover, the result is a descriptive-sequential-temporal representation which can be sorted in various ways visually, or statistically, to represent a number of enrollment phenomena, including how pre-college student characteristics or institutional characteristics influence postsecondary outcomes.
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