Supercharging Alternative High Schools: An Implementation and Impact Study of the Personalized, Relevant, and Engaged for Postsecondary Intervention

• In Event: Using Research to Inform Program Evaluation

Abstract

This study examines the implementation and impact of PREP (Personalized, Relevant, and Engaged for Postsecondary)—an innovative approach to improving engagement and academic outcomes for students in alternative secondary schools. To measure implementation and impact, the authors developed a fidelity of implementation matrix and used a quasi-experimental design to estimate the impact of PREP on measures of engagement and progression in high school. Results from the study found that three key components of the PREP intervention were implemented with adequate fidelity and suggestive evidence that PREP may have had positive effects on student outcomes by mitigating declining rates of attendance and retention in the PREP schools during the 2020–21 school year—a year impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Authors

• Manuel Vazquez Cano, Education Northwest & University of Oregon
  Presenting Author

• Nettie Legters, Portland Public Schools
  Presenting Author

• Angela Roccograndi, Education Northwest
  Non-Presenting Author

• Korinna Wolfe, Portland Public Schools
  Presenting Author