February 2, 2003

The Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) and Its Impact on High School Students’ Completion of the University of California’s Preparatory Coursework

Authors:
Denise D. Quigley and Seth Leon
Providing academic development services to high school students is intended to improve a student’s skills and in turn assist them in completing the UC preparatory coursework, which is the first step in achieving UC eligibility, enrolling in college and completing a four-year degree. This report tests the hypothesis that the academic development services offered by the University of California in a program entitled, the Early Academic Outreach Program, result in more students completing the UC preparatory coursework. We analyzed the course-taking behavior of two cohorts of high school students in a large urban school district in California. We analyzed their student level district data from their 7th through 12th grade years, which included student demographics, language information, course-taking behavior and course grades, spanning 1994–1995 to 1999–2000. This report uses the availability of EAOP at a school to correct for the endogeneity of participation in these programs. This technique, known as difference in differences, statistically separates the effect of participation in EAOP on students’ subsequent completion of the UC preparatory coursework from the effects of other characteristics of the student or the school. Our results are definitive, and suggest that students who participate in EAOP throughout high school are twice as likely to complete the UC preparatory coursework by the end of 12th grade than do nonparticipants of EAOP.
Quigley, D. D., & Leon, S. (2003). The Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) and its impact on high school students’ completion of the University of California’s preparatory coursework (CSE Report 589). Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles, National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST).
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