This is part of a series of MDRC working papers that explore alternative methods of evaluating the implementation and impacts of social programs and policies. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement and National School-to-Work Office; and The Pew Charitable Trusts. It is based on data from the Career Academies Evaluation, which is funded by: The Wallace Foundation, Ford Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Labor, The Commonwealth Fund, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, William T. Grant Foundation, The Pew Charitable Trusts, The Rockefeller Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Grable Foundation, Richard King Mellon Foundation, American Express Foundation, Alcoa Foundation, Russell Sage Foundation, Center for Research on the Education of Students Placed At Risk (CRESPAR), Westinghouse Foundation, The Citigroup Foundation, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Inc.