Credit hour policies, or performance-based financial aid policies, have become increasingly popular among policymakers seeking to improve degree completion rates. In the Unites States, the college completion agenda has been bolstered by national calls from intermediary organizations and philanthropic foundations alike to raise the overall rate and…

We study the long-term effects of a psychological intervention on longitudinal academic outcomes and degree completion of college students. All freshmen at a large public university were randomized to an online growth mindset, belonging, or control group. We tracked students' academic outcomes including GPA, number of credits attempted and earned,…

New Classrooms Innovation Partners was awarded an Investing in Innovation (i3) grant from the U.S. Department of Education to implement its "Teach to One: Math" (TtO) model in five schools in Elizabeth, New Jersey, for three academic years, beginning in September 2015 and continuing through June 2018. The Consortium for Policy Research…

While the Pell Grant covers a substantial proportion of college tuition for low-income students, it has covered only two full-time semesters per year and has not included any support for summer courses through most of its history. As research has shown that continuous enrollment throughout the year increases college persistence and completion, the…

International scholarship programs for higher education attract a substantial body of funding each year from national governments, supranational bodies, large charitable foundations, higher education institutions, and many smaller organizations. With aims variously shaped by international development and public diplomacy considerations,…

Over the past twenty years, efforts to turn around low-performing schools have increasingly become a central component of federal and state education policy agendas. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of the Wraparound Zones Initiative (WAZ), a program supported by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education…

Much of child care research has focused on the effects of the quality of care in early childhood settings on children's school readiness skills. Although researchers increased the statistical rigor of their approaches over the past 15 years, researchers' ability to draw causal inferences has been limited because the studies are based on…

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of the Pathways to STEM Initiative (PSI) on students and science teachers and to describe the level of PSI implementation. One group of middle schools participated in PSI, which included project-based science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) coursework; extra-curricular STEM opportunities…

This report examines the 21st Century Community Learning Center (CCLC) programs evaluated by Research for Action (RFA) and presents an aggregate analysis of key findings to inform broader discussions about OST programs. The report addresses the following questions: (1) Who participated in the 21st CCLC programs and how frequently did they…

The educational setting for districts nationwide includes a variety of programs and support for beginning teachers who do not have experience in the classroom. Additionally, school districts nationwide are taking aggressive measures via induction programs to address the attrition rate in education. The various support and guidance that beginning…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Program (GEAR UP) on college readiness outcomes using a 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 by providing 6-year…

A college degree is often viewed as a key step toward better employment and higher earnings. Many community college students, however, never graduate and cannot reap the financial benefits associated with a college degree. Although existing research suggests that financial aid interventions can modestly improve students' short-term academic…

Under-enrollment of girls in primary and secondary is a longstanding and well-documented problem in developing countries. Limited parental and communal resources combine with cultural factors to create a disincentive for parents to send their girls to school and to keep them there throughout the school year and for the full primary and secondary…

The cost of attending college has risen sharply over the last 40 years. Although more credit and grant aid have been made available to students, there are still major gaps between aid and the cost of attendance for many students in the United States, all of whom are left to figure out whether they can afford the remaining costs associated with…

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influenced the college choice process for high-achieving, low-income African American students, and to understand the effect of the Gates Millennium Scholarship on their college choice. Drawing from the Gates Millennium Scholar Tracking Database, a College Choice Survey, and the Integrated…