An Examination of Bard High School Early College's Impact on High School and College Success

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session 59
  In Roundtable Session: Studies That Highlight Essential Features of Approaches and Programs for Reducing Achievement Gaps: Lessons From All-Day Kindergarten, Teacher Leadership, Early College, Gifted Education, and Alternative Programs

Abstract

College retention and graduation rates are persistently low (Carey, 2005), with serious gaps continuing for minority populations (Bailey & Dynarski, 2011). Bard High School Early Colleges (BHSECs) were founded on the belief that diverse students can benefit from an enriched college curriculum. Building on positive findings from other studies of early colleges (Berger et al., 2013), preliminary results of studies of BHSEC’s unique program have shown strong positive and promising results with regard to impact on high school graduation, college enrollment, and college graduation rates. This presentation will provide findings from two studies that use propensity score matching techniques to examine academic outcomes for students, shedding insight into what their outcomes may have been had they not attended a BHSEC.

Authors

• Susanne DeFalco Harnett, Metis Associates, Inc.

• Jing Zhu, Metis Associates, Inc.

• Michael Scuello, Metis Associates, Inc.