Designing a Study for Scale-Up:
The College Ambition Program
(CAP)
Funded by the National Science Foundation
Grant #0929635
Barbara Schneider, Michigan State University
Presentation Outline
 Research Aims
- CAP is designed for students who expect to attend
college, but are enrolled in high schools with lower-thanaverage college matriculation rates based on national and
state data.
- CAP is a whole-school design with four specific
components:
1) Tutoring and Mentoring
2) Course counseling and advising
3) Financial aid planning and assistance
4) College visits
 Background
- Based on fifteen years of empirical work that has followed over 1,000
adolescents from middle school into adulthood
- A four year random clinical trial
- Extant literature on determinants of college enrollment
 What we learned
- Most students aspire to attend college but lack an understanding of the
educational requirements for a given career path
- Many students through lack of exposure cannot visualize themselves as a
college student
- Transform interests into realistic actions
- Create strategic plans
 In schools serving middle income students there are multiple
sources of information, role models, shared values that promote a
realistic view of college that does not occur in schools serving
students with limited social and economic resources.
 Solution
 Not a single bullet approach
 Not designed for a select group
 Spillover value when working across grade levels
 Take into account adolescent development
 Importance of high education expectations shared among
the students, teachers, and parents—aligned ambitions
 Engagement in rigorous academic subjects
 Information on choices of college programs, admission
requirement
 Financial aid opportunities
 Visualizing oneself as a college student
Tutoring and Mentoring
 Provide students with high quality academic assistance, hiring high quality
tutors, training and evaluating their performance
- Recruitment
- Honors students, National Superconducting Cyclotron laboratory,
- College of Osteopathic
- Medicine, Teacher Education
 Training
- Two hour orientation
- Handbook
- Biweekly feedback
 Evaluation
- Surveys of Mentors and Students
 Site Coordinators partner with school counseling staff
 Videos for students and Counselors
 Developed Ten Steps to College
Step 1-Organizing and Preparing for the College Process; Step 2-Selecting your Courses
Step 3-Paying for College
Step 4- Getting Involved: Building your Extracurricular Resume;
Step 5- Standardized Testing
Step 6-Researching Colleges
Step 7-College Visits & Interviews
Step 8-Crafting your College Essay
Step 9-Creating your College Application
Step 10-Final Steps – Tips on Making the Final Choice
 Paying For College-About Financial Aid
 Michigan Tax Clinic
 Financial Aid Nights
 Completing forms with students and budgeting for the
first year of college
 Trips to college
 Preparation of students and evaluation forms
Response Rate of Treatment and Matched Control
Schools 2010-2011
Rural
Urban
Rural
Urban
Total
609
1,337
461
765
3,172
7
93
6
91
197
Eligible Students
602
1,244
455
674
2,975
Participating students
548
876
363
531
2,318
Response rate
SOURCE: CAP Survey Fall 2010
91.0
70.4
79.8
78.8
77.9
Number of students in school roster
Lost (Dropped, transferred, etc)
Measures
Variable
On-time HS graduation
Data Source(s)
Question(s)
Outcomes of Interest
Senior exit survey,
―After this school year I will:‖ (graduate, not graduate and
administrative data
return in the Fall, not graduate and get GED, not graduate and
do not plan to complete HS)
2-year college
matriculation
Senior exit survey,
school administrative
data
―What are your plans for the Fall?‖ (check 2-year and provide
name)
4-year college
matriculation
Senior exit survey,
school administrative
data
―What are your plans for the Fall?‖ (check 4-year and provide
name)
Timing of postsecondary
enrollment
Full/part-time status
Senior exit survey
―What are your plans for the Fall?‖ (open response)
Senior exit survey
Planned major (two time
points) [coded using NSF
STEM -field coding]
CAP student survey,
Senior exit survey
―Will you be enrolled as a full-time student or part-time
student?‖ (check response)
―As things stand now, what major do you think you will
choose in college?‖ ―What major are you most interested in
studying in college?‖
CAP influence on college
decision
Senior exit survey
Frequency of CAP
visitation
Senior exit survey,
CAP center sign-in
sheets
―How many times this year did you visit the CAP Center?‖
Helpfulness of CAP
Senior exit survey
―If you visited the CAP center, did you find it helpful?‖ (4point scale)
CAP-sponsored college
visits attended
College visit
participation data
Moderating Variables
CAP student survey
―Have you taken, or are you planning to take, any of the
following tests?‖
Senior exit survey
―If you are planning to attend a 2-yr college, what are your
goals?‖ (associate’s, certificate, transfer to 4-year, I don’t
know, other)
Plans to take the ACT,
SAT, and/or an AP exam
2-year college goal
Dosage Variables
―How important (was CAP) in making your decision about
which college to attend?‖ (4-point scale)
―As things stand now, how far in school do you think you’ll
get?‖
―What are your plans for the Fall?‖
―Do you plan to continue your education right after HS or at
some time in the future?‖ (Yes, right after; Yes, after a year;
Yes after over a year; Yes, but I don’t know when)
Stated college ambition
CAP student survey
Actual college plan
Expected timing of
postsecondary enrollment
Senior exit survey
CAP student survey
School counselor/teacher
influence on college
decision
CAP student survey,
Senior exit survey
―How much has (your guidance counselor) influenced your
thinking about college?‖ (3-point scale) ―How important (was
advice from a teacher or counselor) in making your decision
about which college to attend?‖ (3-point scale)
9-11th grade stated college
of choice
CAP student survey
―Please list the three colleges or universities that you are most
interested in attending.‖
Variable
Dosage of
mentoring/tutoring
Content of
mentoring/tutoring –
coded for STEM, non
Frequency of CAP center
visits
Frequency of Mentor
session
Gender match
Race match
When advice was first
received
Importance of math
classes in college
admission
Data Source(s)
Question(s)
Mediating Variables: (1) Mentoring/Tutoring
Mentor contact logs
Mentor contact logs
Sign-in sheets
Sign-in sheets
Mentor contact logs
Mentor contact logs
Mediating Variables: (2) Course Counseling
CAP student survey
"When did you first get advice from your school on the
courses to take for admission"
CAP student survey
"If you knew that taking a specific math class would improve
your chances of getting into the college of your choice, how
would that impact the likelihood of taking that class?"
Importance of science
classes in college
admission
CAP student survey
Courses taken
Transcript data
Mediating Variables: (3) Financial Aid
Senior exit survey,
―Did you receive any scholarships or financial aid to attend
school administrative this college?‖ ―If you received financial aid/scholarships, did
data
this influence your ability to go to college? How?‖
Financial Aid received
"If you knew that taking a specific science class would
improve your chances of getting into the college of your
choice, how would that impact the likelihood of taking that
class?"
Financial Aid influence on
attendance
Senior exit survey
―How important (was cost) in making your decision about
which college to attend?‖ (4-point scale)
Perceived cost of college
CAP student survey
Plans to work during
college
Approach to insufficient
financial aid
CAP student survey
"Indicate your best guess at the cost of tuition, housing fees,
and meal plan during your first year of college"
"Do you anticipate any of the following types of work while
enrolled in college?"
"Assume you are in this situation. You want to go to college,
but the college you want to attend costs more than you and
your family and any scholarship funds could provide. Which
of these would you do?"
College visits
Interviews about the
College Visit
CAP student survey
Mediating Variables: (4) College Visits
CAP student survey
―Since entering high school, how many times have you
(visited a college campus)?‖
College visit
10-15 minute structured one-on-one interview
transcriptions
Variable
Gender
Hispanicity
Hispanicity origin
Question(s)
Student Covariates
CAP student survey
―What is your sex?‖
CAP student survey
―Are you Hispanic or Latino?‖
CAP student survey
―Which of the following are you?‖ (Mexican/MexicanAmerican/Chicano, Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Central
American, South American, Other)
Race/ethnicity
CAP student survey
―Please select one or more of the following that best describes
your race‖ (White, Black/African American, Asian, American
Indian/Alaska Native, Other)
Asian origin
CAP student survey
Date of birth
First language
CAP student survey
CAP student survey
―Which of these are you?‖ (Filipino, Chinese, Southeast
Asian, South Asian, Other Asian)
―What is your birthday?‖
―What language(s) did you learn to speak as a child?‖
Immigrant status
CAP student survey
―Were you born in the US?‖ ―How old were you when you
came to the US?‖ ―What grade were you placed in when you
started school in the US?‖
School mobility
CAP student survey
―During the previous year were you in your current school or
were you in a different school?‖ ―What school did you attend
last year?‖ ―Please briefly explain why you switched schools
this year.‖
Mother’s education
CAP student survey
―How far in school did your mother/female guardian go?‖
Father’s education
CAP student survey
―How far in school did your father/male guardian go?‖
Attitudes towards math
CAP student survey
"When I do mathematics, I get totally absorbed."
"Mathematics is important to me personally." "You have to be
born with the ability to be good at math"
Attitudes towards science
CAP student survey
"When I do science I get totally absorbed." Science is
important to me personally." "You have to be born with the
ability to be good at science"
ACT/SAT score
School
administrative data
School
administrative data
School
administrative data
State achievement test
scores (MEAP)
GPA
Data Source(s)
 Scale-up
 1) Considerations in increasing the
number, costs, staff, fidelity of
implementation
 2) Methods for determining
additional sites
 3) Contracting with an
independent evaluator
 4) Ownership and franchise
 5) Dilemmas of scientific
objectivism
• Information for educators, mentors, parents and students
• Interactive College Checklist
• Links to scholarships and college information sites
• Links to specific school subject help sites
• The CAP research design
• Benefits of pursuing college