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Policy Framework
Launched in Houston in 1993 by James Ketelsen, retired CEO of Tenneco, and since expanded to 12 additional school districts, Project Graduation Really Achieves Dreams (GRAD) combines a variety of promising reforms to improve instruction and raise student achievement in schools that serve primarily minority and low-income students. With the overarching objective of closing the achievement gap between such students and their white, more economically advantaged counterparts, the initiative seeks to help students develop the skills and aspirations required to complete a college preparatory curriculum and move on to postsecondary education.
Project GRAD operates on the premise that high schools, to be successful, must build on the success of the middle schools from which they draw their students, and that these middle schools must build on the achievements of the elementary schools from which their students come. Thus, Project GRAD is designed to operate not only at the high school level but also in the elementary and middle schools that constitute the “feeder system” for high schools.
Agenda, Scope, and Goals
Project GRAD, overseen by Project GRAD USA, includes interventions at all three levels of schooling. At the elementary and middle school levels, its components include:
- MOVE IT MathTM. This K-6 program teaches algebraic concepts in early grades.
- Success for AllTM. This nationally recognized program promotes restructuring school resources to bring students to grade level in reading by third grade.
- Consistency Management© and Cooperative Discipline. This program seeks to build student support for classroom management, responsibility, and self-discipline.
- Communities in Schools or Campus Family Support. These programs (the latter developed by Project GRAD) bring outside social services and academic enrichment programs into schools.
At the high school level, students are required to take algebra, attend summer academic institutes on college campuses, receive college counseling, and participate in career exploration activities. A further feature is the:
- Project GRAD Scholarship. Students who complete all program requirements, graduate on time, and maintain a 2.5 grade point average are awarded college scholarships (amounts vary by site).
In addition, Project GRAD schools receive materials and extensive staff development to foster high-quality implementation of the interventions.
MDRC's evaluation of the model began in 1998 and addressed three central questions:
- How is Project GRAD implemented, and what lessons can be drawn from the sites' experiences?
- What are the outcomes for schools and students after Project GRAD is in place?
- How does Project GRAD affect these outcomes?
Design, Sites, and Data Sources
The analytic approach used for this study combined two particularly strong quasi-experimental evaluation methods: an interrupted time series analysis and a comparison schools technique. In the interrupted time series analysis, measures of student performance in schools that implemented the intervention were compared with the performance of similar students in the same schools prior to the implementation. The difference between performance levels in the two groups is referred to as a “deviation from the baseline.” A second interrupted time series analysis was conducted for a group of comparison schools in the same district that have characteristics similar to those of the intervention schools. The difference between the deviations from the baseline in the intervention schools and the deviations from the baseline in the comparison schools represents the estimated impact of the intervention.
Four Project GRAD sites participated in the evaluation. These are: Atlanta, Georgia; Columbus, Ohio; Houston, Texas; and Newark, New Jersey.
Administrative records maintained by the districts provided data on key quantitative outcomes: standardized test scores, attendance, grade advancement, course-taking patterns, high school graduation rates, and dropout rates. Sources of qualitative data included classroom observations; interviews; and focus groups with key program operators, principals and teachers, district administrators, and community leaders.
Findings
Findings from MDRC's evaluation of Project GRAD can be found in two reports — one focused on elementary schools and the other on high schools.
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