Social Return on Investment Evaluation of a Race to the Top Grant Fund

• In Event: Roundtable Session 57
  In Roundtable Session: Methodological Issues and Approaches to Program Evaluation in Schools

Abstract

This study focuses on a RTTT program that gave grants to education partnerships to implement and scale innovative education programs. This evaluation examines the social return on investment (SROI) of four of the grantees. The SROI approach focuses on understanding what has changed because of a program, what matters to stakeholders about those changes, and the social value of those changes. In these programs, the most influential aspect was their estimated effect on students’ postsecondary plans. Any program focusing on high school students should therefore consider making a specific, concerted effort to help students make postsecondary plans that are specific and ambitious yet achievable. This will return more social value than any other single program component.

Authors

• Andrea D. Beesley, IMPAQ International

• Michaela Gulemetova, IMPAQ International, LLC

• Maria DiFuccia, IMPAQ International, LLC