Abstract
Using a multi-year, random assignment design, this study evaluated the effects of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program (NGYCP), an intensive residential intervention program for youth ages 16–18 who have dropped out of high school. The sample included 1,173 youth (predominantly male) of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds from ten NGYCP sites across the country. Positive impacts on educational and employment outcomes were sustained 3 years after entering the program, with older participants generally showing greater benefits than younger participants. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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Notes
For the duration of the study, those interested in applying to Challenge needed to agree to also take part in the study in order to continue with the enrollment process. However, the study procedures allowed for a small number of hardship cases to bypass study involvement in special circumstances.
A greater number of youth were assigned to the program group than the control group because the primary goal was to fill the number of available program slots. During the study period, program managers told MDRC how many applicants they needed to accept in order to meet the graduation target, assuming normal patterns of attrition. Random assignment was conducted if the number of qualified applicants was at least 25 greater than the number needed to meet the graduation goal.
The initial imbalance of the site sample sizes and the program or control group assignments limited the ability of the sampling plan to fully address the imbalances for the final analysis. The weighting discussed below further addresses these issues for the analysis.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge David Van Patten and Dare Mighty Things, Dan Bloom, and other members of the Challenge evaluation team and the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, MCJ Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the US Department of Defense.
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Millenky, M., Schwartz, S.E.O. & Rhodes, J.E. Supporting the Transition to Adulthood among High School Dropouts: An Impact Study of the National Guard Youth Challenge Program. Prev Sci 15, 448–459 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-013-0388-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-013-0388-4