Document Tag: evaluation
The Holistic Capital Model: Time and Body Capital as Sources of Inequity (2024)
We present a model of capital that expands existing models to introduce two new forms of capital (time and body capital) as
sources of inequity in education. The aim is to (a) make visible core resources that are relevant to educational outcomes and
also (often hidden) sources of inequity, (b) identify commonalities across diverse empirical and theoretical research strands,
and (c) reconceptualize existing research from an asset rather than deficit framework. We explain how time and physiological
resources can be conceptualized as forms of capital and link this to extant empirical and theoretical research across fields.
Then, we describe how students may have different amounts and types of time and body capital, as well as different drains
on capital, and how this may lead to educational inequities. We close by deWe present a model of capital that expands existing models to introduce two new forms of capital (time and body capital) as
sources of inequity in education. The aim is to (a) make visible core resources that are relevant to educational outcomes and
also (often hidden) sources of inequity, (b) identify commonalities across diverse empirical and theoretical research strands,
and (c) reconceptualize existing research from an asset rather than deficit framework. We explain how time and physiological
resources can be conceptualized as forms of capital and link this to extant empirical and theoretical research across fields.
Then, we describe how students may have different amounts and types of time and body capital, as well as different drains
on capital, and how this may lead to educational inequities. describing the affordances of using this theory as a
lens for analyzing existing educational structures, policies and practices.
SparkPoint Supports Student Success (2023)
Over the last decade, many Bay Area community colleges asked United Way Bay Area (UWBA) to bring SparkPoint to their campuses because students weren’t getting the holistic support they needed
to stay in school and succeed. SparkPoint offers comprehensive, integrated services that consider students’ strengths, resources, and compounding needs. SparkPoint Centers work with students to meet their basic needs, increase their income, build their credit, increase their savings, and reduce their debt.
Previous studies suggest that SparkPoint may contribute to improving student success, including persistence, in community colleges. This evaluation builds on the foundation of those studies and conducts a
more rigorous quantitative analysis that accounts for other factors known to influence persistence and includes comparisons with students who do not participate in SparkPoint. This study includes all San Mateo Community College District (SMCCD) students who were on a degree or certificate track during the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-2021, and/or 2021-22 school years. Notably, the last two years of this study were during the COVID-19 pandemic which greatly impacted students and disrupted SparkPoint services.
The study reveals substantial evidence that SparkPoint contributes to community college student success (i.e., persist, graduate, or transfer).
Homelessness and Housing Insecurity Among Community College Students: A Longitudinal Evaluation of a Housing Choice Voucher Program (2024)
Housing insecurity and homelessness among American community college students are widespread
problems that reduce the odds of college attainment and undermine students’ health and well-being.
In 2014 Tacoma Community College and the Tacoma Housing Authority launched the College Housing
Assistance Program (CHAP) to address this challenge by offering housing choice vouchers to local community college students experiencing or at serious risk of experiencing homelessness. If students could
successfully navigate the application process and local housing market, the vouchers offered a short-term
subsidy to reduce their rent and hopefully promote degree completion. Over the next several years, CHAP
received national and regional awards and became a model for affordable college housing programs. This
evaluation examines its effects on students before the housing authority ended the program in 2022.
Machine Learning Who to Nudge: Causal vs Predictive Targeting in a Field Experiment on Student Financial Aid Renewal (2023)
In many settings, interventions may be more effective for some individuals than others, so that targeting interventions may be beneficial. We analyze the value of targeting in the context of a large-scale field experiment with over 53,000 college students, where the goal was to use “nudges” to encourage students to renew their financial-aid applications before a non-binding deadline. We begin with baseline approaches to targeting. First, we target based on a causal forest that estimates heterogeneous treatment effects and then assigns students to treatment according to those estimated to have the highest treatment effects. Next, we evaluate two alternative targeting policies, one targeting students with low predicted probability of renewing financial aid in the absence of the treatment, the other targeting those with high probability. The predicted baseline outcome is not the ideal criterion for targeting, nor is it a priori clear whether to prioritize low, high, or intermediate predicted probability. Nonetheless, targeting on low baseline outcomes is common in practice, for example because the relationship between individual characteristics and treatment effects is often difficult or impossible to estimate with historical data. We propose hybrid approaches that incorporate the strengths of both predictive approaches (accurate estimation) and causal approaches (correct criterion); we show that targeting intermediate baseline outcomes is most effective, while targeting based on low baseline outcomes is detrimental. In one year of the experiment, nudging all students improved early filing by an average of 6.4 percentage points over a baseline average of 37% filing, and we estimate that targeting half of the students using our preferred policy attains around 75% of this benefit.
Does Basic Needs Funding Improve Persistence Among College Students? Findings on How HEERF Dollars Impacted Student Persistence at SNHU (2023)
In October 2022, the Center for Higher Education Policy and Practice (CHEPP) published the first of a two-part series on the use and impact of Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF) grants at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) and the national challenge of accessing basic needs for today’s learners. The first paper, Basic Needs Funding for College Students: What SNHU Learned During the Pandemic, detailed learnings from SNHU’s distribution of $107 million in HEERF dollars to 51,257 qualified learners, a sample which represented a mere 7.6% application rate among potentially eligible students. Housing, food, and transportation were identified as the greatest basic needs challenges for learners based on an analysis of the data. This paper examines whether HEERF had a significant positive impact on learner persistence among a sample of learners from the initial population of HEERF recipients at SNHU (n=47,381). It includes data and analysis on the impact of emergency grants and basic needs programs on persistence for higher education students to inform national policy discussions related to expanding learner access to such supports. Key Takeaways +Three out of five learners among a national sample (n=195,000) experienced basic needs insecurities in Fall 2020 (The Hope Center, 2021). The national impact of unmet basic needs on college persistence and success is not yet quantifiable. However, there is evidence that unmet basic needs negatively impacts learner outcomes, making the basic needs support gap an urgent challenge facing higher education and our nation. +Data indicates that emergency grants contributed to learners’ academic persistence at SNHU. Students enrolled at SNHU who received HEERF emergency grants (n=47,381) were more likely to stay enrolled in the next term, when compared with control groups. Specifically, HEERF II recipients were 15.5% more likely to stay enrolled and HEERF III recipients were 8.6% more likely to stay enrolled. +As a result of these findings, SNHU approved funding to pilot an emergency grant program for learners in need. This pilot was conducted during the 2023 Spring and Summer terms. Findings from the pilot will be used to inform future projects related to this topic at SNHU.
The Design and Testing of a Text Message for Use as an Informational Nudge in a Novel Food Insecurity Intervention (2023)
Food insecurity is an ongoing problem in the U.S. with implications for health problems and social disadvantages. Past food insecurity intervention studies have targeted barriers to accessing healthy food. However, information barriers have not been adequately addressed by food insecurity interventions. This research included the first phase of a two-phase feasibility study that involved testing a text message as an informational nudge through interviews among a small, preliminary sample of adults in the southwest U.S. (n = 10). Interview questions focused on the message content, persuasiveness, relevancy, clarity, and details that participants liked and disliked. A qualitative content analysis of interview responses then highlighted any necessary modifications to the text message. Interview responses highlighted that the message conveyed details about how to access food assistance resources. The message was perceived as informative, clear, and friendly. Participants highlighted the need for better spacing in the message layout, more details about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and a better explanation for why SNAP is relevant. Text message readability, relevancy, and informativeness were common concerns raised during interviews. Participant-informed modifications to the text message were applied in preparation for using the message in a food insecurity intervention. This research is a novel contribution to the extant literature on nudges, as no known intervention study has used informational nudges to exclusively promote food security. Future food insecurity research efforts should similarly test novel interventions to ensure the intervention is acceptable and relevant for the target population.
Addressing Food Insecurity on Campus: Connecting Students with Basic Needs Supports to Improve Academic Outcomes (2023)
This report highlights the efforts of four Arkansas community colleges to address students’ basic
needs by transforming their campus food pantries from supplemental food distribution centers to
basic needs hubs connecting students to a broad array of additional, more sustained basic needs
supports.
Drawing on college administrative data, this study assesses the benefits of this basic needs hub
model on students’ academic success. Results from regression analyses point to notable academic
benefits. Specifically:
• Students accessing the basic needs hub are 6 to 8 percentage points more likely
than students not accessing the hub to be enrolled one semester and one year later,
and to earn a credential.
• Low-income students, adult students, and students of color are more likely to access
basic needs hubs, driven by colleges’ targeted outreach efforts to key student
groups.
• The notable academic benefits of the basic needs hub are present for Pell recipients,
for adults, and for students of color – with especially high proportional increases in
credential attainment for students of color who access the hubs.