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College Success Foundation (CSF) evaluations
The College Success Foundation (formerly the Washington Education Foundation) provides college scholarships and mentoring to low-income, high-potential students. Since 2005, SRI has been working with the Foundation to evaluate their HERO and Achievers Scholarship programs.
For selected students, Achievers Scholarship participation begins late in their 10th-grade year; they receive a number of academic and personal supports for college readiness in high school, and continued mentoring as well as financial support throughout college. CSF's HERO program targets underserved students beginning in middle school, promoting college awareness and college readiness with the goal of increasing the diversity of students who go on to become Achievers Scholars in high school. SRI designed and implemented a comprehensive program monitoring and evaluation system for HERO, and conducted a high-level design for an interlocking system for Achievers Scholarship programs in two states. By integrating data from transcripts and other academic progress indicators, program participation information, mentoring histories, surveys, and focus groups as well as longitudinal data from students’ college years, the system provides comprehensive tracking of student progress and supports from middle school through high school and suggests research that integrates the entire pipeline through and beyond college graduation. SRI also developed a transcript analysis tool to evaluate program goals related to student course-taking and to offer input to program staff on academic interventions needed for particular students.
The Achievers Scholarship Program evaluation design was grounded in a Theory of Action for the program, specifying the outcome priorities, design components, and linkages for the program as a system. The Theory of Action was developed in a series of meetings with program stakeholders.
In addition, SRI conducted a qualitative study that explored the personal experiences of the first cohort of Achievers Scholarship recipients to determine the influence of the scholarship on students' academic achievement, personal lives, professional aspirations, and community and school involvement, and to analyze critical success factors related to the students’ college persistence and attainment. This study included focus groups and life history interviews with students and recent graduates at seven undergraduate institutions.
Funders & Clients
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Partners
- College Success Foundation (CSF)
Publications
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SRI International. (2007). "I think it makes me not give up on dreams. What students say about HERO." Interim Report for College Success Foundation. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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