Cross-intervention variation in community college intervention effects is substantial: for first-semester credits earned, the true-effect standard deviation (0.55 credits) exceeds the mean effect (0.48 credits)¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesis r2 · q3
Currency · newest study 2023 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q3 i? For credits earned through one semester, the estimated cross-intervention standard deviation of true effects (τ = 0.55 credits) is larger than the mean effect (β = 0.48 credits), with 10th–90th percentile effects from −0.03 to 1.29 credits. → Michael J. Weiss 2023

Evidence¶

Michael J. Weiss 2023¶

Michael J. Weiss, Marie-Andrée Somers, & Colin Hill. (2023). Empirical Benchmarks for Planning and Interpreting Causal Effects of Community College Interventions. Journal of Postsecondary Student Success 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.33009/fsop_jpss132759

q3 · i? · quant-synthesis · r2

FIRC estimates for the semester-1 credits-earned distribution in the Results section: mean β = 0.48 credits, τ = 0.55 credits, and percentiles of −0.03, 0.13, 0.48, 0.60, and 1.29. The article states τ being larger than β indicates "substantial variation in the effectiveness of interventions."

"This estimate of τ is larger in magnitude than the mean impact (β), indicating substantial variation in the effectiveness of interventions under study on this outcome at this time point."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Mean effects of community college interventions on cumulative credits earned increase over the first six semesters after random assignment, reaching 1.14 credits by semester 3 — related
• Mean effects of community college interventions on marginal (per-semester) enrollment and credits earned decrease over time, with decreasing variability — related
• Mean effects of community college interventions on marginal (per-semester) enrollment and credits earned decrease over time — related
• The Detroit Promise Path effect of 1.8 credits earned after two semesters sits at the 83rd percentile of the distribution of community college intervention effects, indicating a quite large effect — related
• Distributions of estimated intervention effects overstate the spread of true effects; adjusted empirical Bayes estimates reduce the spread by about 16% for cumulative semesters enrolled — related
• For credits earned in semester 1, the estimated distribution of true intervention effects has a mean of 0.48 credits, a cross-intervention standard deviation of 0.55 credits, and a 75th percentile of 0.60 credits — possibly the same claim (merge candidate)
• Short-term impacts on targeted-subject credits varied by college, with Kingsborough's estimated impacts the largest — a narrower finding that bears on this claim