Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do

IES PRACTICE GUIDE WHAT WORKS CLEARINGHOUSE Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do NCEE 2009-4066 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) publishes practice guides in education to bring the best available evidence and expertise to bear on the types of challenges that cannot currently be addressed by single interventions or programs. Authors of practice guides seldom conduct the types of systematic literature searches that are the backbone of a meta-analysis, although they take advantage of such work when it is already published. Instead, authors use their expertise to identify the most important research with respect to their recommendations and conduct a search of recent publications to ensure that the research supporting the recommendations is up-to-date. Unique to IES-sponsored practice guides is that they are subjected to rigorous exter- nal peer review through the same office that is responsible for independent review of other IES publications. A critical task for peer reviewers of a practice guide is to determine whether the evidence cited in support of particular recommendations is up-to-date and that studies of similar or better quality that point in a different di- rection have not been ignored. Because practice guides depend on the expertise of their authors and their group decisionmaking, the content of a practice guide is not and should not be viewed as a set of recommendations that in every case depends on and flows inevitably from scientific research. The goal of this practice guide is to formulate specific and coherent evidence-based recommendations for use by educators addressing the challenge of increasing access to higher education. The guide provides practical, clear information on critical top- ics related to what schools can do to help students navigate the path to college and is based on the best available evidence as judged by the panel. Recommendations presented in this guide should not be construed to imply that no further research is warranted on the effectiveness of particular strategies for increasing access to postsecondary education. IES PRACTICE GUIDE Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do September 2009 Panel William G. Tierney (Chair) UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Thomas Bailey COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Jill Constantine MATHEMATICA POLICY RESEARCH Neal Finkelstein WESTED Nicole Farmer Hurd NATIONAL COLLEGE ADVISING CORPS Staff Jeffrey Max Christina Clark Tuttle MATHEMATICA POLICY RESEARCH NCEE 2009-4066 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Evaluation and Re- gional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences under Contract ED-07-CO-0062 by the What Works Clearinghouse, a project of Mathematica Policy Research. Disclaimer The opinions and positions expressed in this practice guide are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions and positions of the Institute of Education Sciences or the U.S. Department of Education. This practice guide should be reviewed and applied according to the specific needs of the educators and education agencies using it, and with full realization that it represents the judgments of the review panel regarding what constitutes sensible practice, based on the research that was available at the time of publication. This practice guide should be used as a tool to assist in decisionmaking rather than as a “cookbook.” Any references within the document to specific education products are illustrative and do not imply endorsement of these products to the exclusion of other products that are not referenced. U.S. Department of Education Arne Duncan Secretary Institute of Education Sciences John Q. Easton Director National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance John Q. Easton Acting Commissioner September 2009 This report is in the public domain. Although permission to reprint this publication is not necessary, the citation should be: Tierney, W. G., Bailey, T., Constantine, J., Finkelstein, N., & Hurd, N. F. (2009). Helping students navigate the path to college: What high schools can do: A practice guide (NCEE #2009-4066). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Depart- ment of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/ practiceguides/. What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide citations begin with the panel chair, followed by the names of the panelists listed in alphabetical order. This report is available on the IES website at http://ies.ed.gov/ncee and http://ies. ed.gov/ncee/wwc/publications/practiceguides/. Alternative Formats On request, this publication can be made available in alternate formats, such as Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer diskette. For more information, call the Alternative Format Center at (202) 205-8113. Helping Students Navigate the Path to College: What High Schools Can Do Contents Introduction 1 The What Works Clearinghouse standards and their relevance to this guide 4 Overview 5 Scope of the practice guide 7 Status of the research 8 Summary of the recommendations 9 Checklist for carrying out the recommendations 11 Recommendation 1. Offer courses and curricula that prepare students for college-level work, and ensure that students understand what constitutes a college-ready curriculum by 9th grade 12 Recommendation 2. Utilize assessment measures throughout high school so that students are aware of how prepared they are for college, and assist them in overcoming deficiencies as they are identified 20 Recommendation 3. Surround students with adults and peers who build and support their college-going aspirations 26 Recommendation 4. Engage and assist students in completing critical steps for college entry 31 Recommendation 5. Increase families’ financial awareness, and help students apply for financial aid 38 Appendix A. Postscript from the Institute of Education Sciences 43 Appendix B. About the authors 46 Appendix C. Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest 48 Appendix D. Technical information on the studies 49 References 73 ( iii ) HELPING STUDENTS NAVIGATE THE PATH TO COLLEGE: WHAT HIGH SCHOOLS CAN DO List of tables Table 1. Institute of Education Sciences levels of evidence for practice guides 2 Table 2. Recommendations and corresponding levels of evidence 6 Table 3. Examples of college preparatory course requirements 14 Table D1. Studies of college access programs that met WWC standards with or without reservations 54 Table D2. Studies of college access programs that potentially met WWC standards 56 List of exhibits Exhibit 1. Example of course requirement mailing 16 Exhibit 2. Example of a personalized learning plan 17 Exhibit 3. Example of a college entrance exam schedule 33 Exhibit 4. Example of a college visit schedule 34 Exhibit 5. Example of a college admissions timeline 36 ( iv ) Introduction document ranges from experimental eval- uations of college access programs to ex- Access to higher education remains a chal- pert analyses of college access practices. lenge for many students who face barriers In looking for effective practices, the panel to college entry. Low-income students and paid particular attention to high-qual- students who are potentially the first in ity experimental and quasi-experimental their family to attend college have lower studies, such as those meeting the criteria college enrollment rates than other stu- of the WWC,4 and to patterns of practices dents.1 Although academic preparation ac- that are replicated across programs. counts for some of these differences, the disparities in college-going rates persist The research base for this guide was iden- for these groups of students even when tified through a comprehensive search for controlling for academic preparation.2 studies evaluating college access inter- College access outcomes have important ventions and practices. An initial search economic and social consequences: col- for this type of research conducted in the lege graduates earn more than those with United States in the past 20 years (1988– a high school degree and are more active 2008) yielded more than 500 studies. Of in their communities.3 these, 99 studies examined college access programs or related practices for high This guide is intended to help schools and school students and were eligible for fur- districts develop practices to increase ac- ther review because the study design in- cess to higher education. It can be use- cluded a comparison group. These studies ful for individuals who work in schools were reviewed by the WWC to determine and districts in planning and executing whether they were consistent with WWC strategies to improve preparation for, and standards. Of the 99 studies, 16 studies access to, higher education. A panel of met WWC standards with or without res- experts in college access programs and ervations. These 16 studies of 10 differ- strategies and in research methods devel- ent college access programs represent the oped the recommendations in this guide. strongest evidence of the effectiveness of The guide contains specific steps on how college access programs. to implement the recommendations that are targeted at school- and district-level To indicate the strength of evidence sup- administrators, teachers, counselors, and porting each recommendation, the panel related education staff. The guide also relied on the WWC standards for determin- indicates the level

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