Study Details | Pathways to Work

22879-Evaluation of Urban

Study quality: High

High

Reason for the rating: This study received a high study quality rating because it is a low-attrition randomized controlled trial with no known issues that suggest the findings cannot be attributed to the intervention.

Intervention: Urban Alliance’s High School Internship Program

Population and employment barriers:

Educational attainment (Less than high school diploma or GED), Young adults (aged 16-24)

Services provided:

Case management, Financial education, Financial incentives, Soft skills training, Supportive services, Training, Work and work-based learning (Subsidized employment, Work experience), Work readiness activities (Job search assistance)

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

This study includes individuals who applied to participate in an Urban Alliance program in Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD, during the 2011–12 or 2012–13 school years. Applicants, who were rising high school seniors with enough credits earned to allow for an early-release schedule to participate in an internship placement, were assigned to intervention and comparison groups. Across cohorts and sites, 700 individuals were assigned to the intervention group and 362 to the comparison group. The authors conducted an intent-to-treat analysis and an analysis of the effect of treatment on the treated. (The latter uses instrumental variables and is not eligible for review.) Impacts were estimated using administrative data from study schools, the National Student Clearinghouse, and the National Center for Education Statistics’ Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and survey data. The study team attempted to collect survey data for all students in the comparison group and a random subset of students in the intervention group, about 15 (Wave 1) and 27 (Wave 2) months after students' predicted graduation date, or about 24 and 36 months after random assignment.

Time period of study:

The intervention was studied from 2011 to 2015. The authors estimated impacts at one and two years after the expected high school graduation for each cohort of Urban Alliance applicants.

Primary outcome domains examined:

Increase education and training

Other outcome domains examined:

Job skills, Savings

Study funded by:

Funding for the study was provided by the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund.

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Comparison group mean	Intervention group mean	Impact	Units	Sample size
Increase education and training	Attained two-year degree or enrolled in third year (NSC)	36 months	High	0.22	0.28	2.00	percentage points	1,043
Increase education and training	Completed one year of college	36 months	High	0.45	0.52	1.50	percentage points	1,043
Increase education and training	Completed one year of four-year college	36 months	High	0.41	0.47	0.00	percentage points	1,043
Increase education and training	Completed two years of college	36 months	High	0.24	0.30	2.10	percentage points	1,043
Increase education and training	Completed two years of four-year college	36 months	High	0.24	0.29	0.20	percentage points	1,043

Short-term outcomes are those measured 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services. Long-term outcomes are those measured between 18 months and 5 years after participants are first offered services. Very long-term outcomes are those measured 5 years or more after participants are first offered services.

Findings quality key:

High
Moderate

Study quality terms?

The findings quality describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the intervention. We do not display findings that rate low.

Findings key:

A moderate-to-large favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large favorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that might be due to chance
A favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A favorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that might be due to chance
An unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
An unfavorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size or direction
A finding of no effect that might be due to chance

Favorable findings are impacts in a direction that is socially desirable. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a study finding is due to the intervention, rather than due to chance. Findings are described as moderate-to-large if the intervention produced a sufficiently large change in the outcome. An impact receives this designation if the standardized effect size is equal to or greater than 0.25 or equal to or less than -0.25.

Sample characteristics

Students were drawn from neighborhoods that were considered to be economically distressed and underemployed and were residents of those neighborhoods classified as at risk of becoming disconnected youth. Most study participants were African American (89 percent), and 65 percent were female. The average age was between 17 and 18 years old. All participants were rising high school seniors, and 75 percent reported they had prior work experience before applying to the Urban Alliance program. About 77 percent lived in a household where at least one adult was employed, and 27 percent lived with both their mother and father.

Age

Mean age	18 years
Young adults	100%

Sex

Female	65%
Male	35%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	89%
White, not Hispanic	2%
Another race	4%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	6%

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.

Family status

Parents

Participant education

Did not have a high school diploma or GED

100%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Urban Alliance

Program history:

Urban Alliance was founded in 1996. The internship program has been part of the Urban Alliance's core programs since its founding. Baltimore, MD, and Washington, DC are the two oldest internship sites.

Intervention services:

Urban Alliance is a program for students in their final year of high school. The program starts with a prework training stage, lasting three to six weeks, in which participants receive training on general job skills and soft skills. After this initial phase, participants begin paid internships (in many cases subsidized by Urban Alliance). Most internships occur in office settings, though some were in banks, hotels, schools, and day cares. Participants attend internships from Monday through Thursday after school throughout the school year, with continued training on Fridays after school. Internships continue through the summer after students' senior year of high school. (During the summer, participants work for a full day from Monday through Thursday, with half-day trainings on Fridays.) Participants also receive coaching and mentorship through the program—from an Urban Alliance staff member and a worker at their job site—and can receive access to clothing appropriate for the workplace and financial incentives for participation in activities. Finally, participants can receive continued mentoring, access to a resource room, job search assistance, and connections to paid internships after the program.

Mandatory services:

None.

Comparison services:

The comparison group did not receive any Urban Alliance services.

Service receipt duration:

A typical participant enrolls in the Urban Alliance High School Internship Program early in his or her senior year of high school. He or she completes three to six weeks of training before being placed in an internship for the remainder of the school year and the following summer. Participants end their participation in Urban Alliance with a final presentation in July, at the end of the program year. Alumni services are available after completion of the program.

Intervention funding:

Internship sites and philanthropic foundations.

Cost information:

The average cost of providing the intervention was $5,154 per participant. The average cost of providing comparison group services was $0 per person. The net intervention cost, or difference between the two, was $5,154 per person. This represents how much more it cost to provide intervention services compared to comparison services.

These figures are based on cost information reported by study authors. The Pathways Clearinghouse converted that information to a single amount expressed in 2018 dollars; for details, see the FAQ. This information is not an official price tag or guarantee.

Study publications

Theodos, Brett, Micahel R. Pergamit, Devlin Hanson, Sara Edelstein, and Rebecca Daniels (2016). Embarking on college and career: Interim evaluation of Urban Alliance, Washington, DC: Urban Institute. Available at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/80591/2000788-urban-alliance-evaluation-interim-report_0.pdf.

Theodos, Brett, Michael R. Pergamit, Devlin Hanson, Sara Edelstein, Rebecca Daniels, and Tanaya Srini (2017). Pathways after high school: Evaluation of the Urban Alliance High School Internship Program, Washington, DC: Urban Institute. Available at https://www.urban.org/research/publication/pathways-after-high-school-evaluation-urban-alliance-high-school-internship-program.

Theodos, Brett, Mike R. Pergamit, Sara Edelstein, Taz George, and Lesley Freiman (2014). Preparing youth for college and career: A process evaluation of Urban Alliance, Washington, DC: Urban Institute. Available at https://www.urban.org/research/publication/preparing-youth-college-and-career-process-evaluation-urban-alliance.

View the glossary for more information about these and other terms used on this page.

The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

Study of Urban Alliance’s High School Internship Program