Study Details | Pathways to Work

101023-Study of Success Pro

Study quality: Low

Low

Reason for the rating: This study received a low study quality rating because it is a quasi-experimental design that does not demonstrate that the program and comparison groups were sufficiently similar before the program.

Program: Success Program

Characteristics of study participants:

At least a high school diploma or equivalent, Young adults (age 16-24)

Services provided:

Basic skills/bridge programs, Case management, Mental health services, Peer mentoring, Physical health services, Soft skills training

Setting: Suburban only

Methods and Standards Protocol version used for review: Version 2.0

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Study design

Design:

Quasi-experimental design

Study group formation:

The study used a quasi-experimental difference-in-discontinuity (DiRD) design to compare the outcomes of students assigned to the Success Program to the outcomes of students whose grade point averages (GPAs) were just above the cutoff for academic probation (2.0 or lower for the first academic quarter of their freshman year in college). Data was collected and analyzed at the individual level using school administrative data and wage and employment data from California's Employment Development Department. The authors separately evaluated program effects among 51,804 students with low incomes from program effects among students with higher incomes, with results for students with low income being the focus of the study review.

Time period of study:

The study ran from 2007 to 2020. First-year college students who enrolled in the Success Program between 2009 and 2017 were matched in administrative data to similar first-year students just above the cutoff for academic probation who enrolled in 2007 or 2008 (and two colleges in 2009 that did not participate in the pilot). Study data collection spanned 2007 to 2017 for educational administrative data and 2000 to 2020 for unemployment insurance administrative data, with outcomes assessed seven to nine years after university entry.

Pathways to Work only reports results from studies with a study quality rating of high or moderate.

Sample characteristics

Age

Young adults (age 16-24)

100%

Sex

Female	44%
Male	56%

Race and ethnicity

White	58%
Unknown, not reported, or other	42%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Education

Had a high school diploma or GED

100%

Program implementation

Implementing organization:

Large four-year university in central California

Program services:

The Success Program was a mandatory academic coaching program for college freshmen who were placed on academic probation at the end of their first academic quarter. The program consisted of a two-hour workshop led by faculty coaches followed by either a one-on-one session with a coach or the completion of a reflection assignment after visiting a campus resource. The two-hour workshop consisted of two parts. The first part was a 30-minute meeting with all session participants focused on normalizing failure and academic challenges and raising awareness of campus resources. The second part was a 90-minute breakout session in groups of six to eight students that involved completing structured reflection and goal-setting exercises, worksheets, and group discussion. Students also were required to complete a campus engagement assignment within the first four weeks of the quarter.

Mandatory services:

Basic skills/bridge programs

Comparison services:

The comparison cohort was comprised of students just above the GPA cutoff for academic probation who were not eligible for the Success Program.

Study publications

Canaan, Serena, Stefanie Fischer, Pierre Mouganie, and Geoffrey C. Schnorr (2022). Keep me in, coach: The short- and long-term effects of targeted academic coaching. Upjohn Institute Working Paper 22-370. Kalamazoo, MI: W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. https://doi.org/10.17848/wp22-370

Mouganie, Pierre, Serena Canaan, Stefanie Fischer, and Geoffrey C. Schnorr (2022). College academic coaching can increase college success and later earnings. Employment Research 29(4): 1-3. https://doi.org/10.17848/1075-8445.29(4)-1

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Study of Success Program