JOBSTART increased the likelihood that disadvantaged high school dropouts earned a high school diploma or GED certificate within 48 months of random assignment¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r2 · q3 · i1 small
Currency · newest study 2008 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i1 In a randomized controlled trial with 1,941 respondents, JOBSTART youth earned a high school diploma or GED certificate at a significantly higher rate than control group youth (42.0% vs. 28.6%; effect size 0.36; improvement index +14). → What Works Clearinghouse 2008

Evidence¶

What Works Clearinghouse 2008¶

What Works Clearinghouse. (2008). WWC Intervention Report: JOBSTART. U.S. Department of Education, What Works Clearinghouse. https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc

q3 · i1 · causal · r2

Randomized controlled trial by Cave et al. (1993) in 13 sites in nine states; 2,312 youth randomly assigned and 1,941 responding to the 48-month follow-up. Appendix A3 reports a 13.4 percentage-point mean difference, effect size 0.36 via the Cox Index, statistically significant, improvement index "+14".

"Four years after random assignment, 42% of JOBSTART youth had earned a high school diploma or GED certificate, compared with 29% of control group youth."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Career Academies have potentially positive effects on completing school: about 96% of academy students earned a diploma or GED within 8 years of expected graduation versus about 94% of comparison students (effect size 0.27, not statistically significant but substantively important). — related
• The National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program has potentially positive effects on completing school for at-risk youth, with 61% of the program group reporting a diploma or GED versus 36% of controls 21 months after random assignment — related
• Job Corps has potentially positive effects on completing school: more youth without credentials earned a diploma or GED — related
• JOBSTART's positive completion effect held across gender and parenthood subgroups, with the largest effect for women living with their own children — related
• JOBSTART's completion gain came entirely from GED receipt, with a small significant negative effect on earning a high school diploma — related
• JOBSTART youth participated in substantially more education and training during follow-up than control youth — related
• New Chance's completion effect came entirely from GED receipt, with a small negative effect on earning a high school diploma — related
• Job Corps' completion effect came entirely from GED receipt, with a small statistically significant negative effect on earning a high school diploma — related
• The JOBSTART and control groups showed no statistically significant baseline differences on compared characteristics — related
• Regular Upward Bound produces a statistically significant increase in the likelihood of earning a postsecondary certificate or license from a vocational school — related
• The evidence base for New Chance is a single randomized controlled trial of 2,322 women across 16 sites, rated small in extent — related
• Job Corps substantially increased time spent in education and training relative to the control group during the 48-month follow-up — related