Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Abstract:

Purpose: More equitable access to college is an increasingly debated topic in both educational and political circles. An increasingly popular effort to address this issue is the “promise program”, where scholarships are offered to students who meet low-threshold minimum requirements. Promise programs have many goals, not the least of which is to increase the number of students who go to college by increasing academic skill, knowledge about college, and the college-going culture within the schools. This study will examine whether or not the El Dorado Promise Program has significantly affected the college-going culture of the district’s schools and community as compared to similar schools in non-Promise zones. We examine four main strands of college-going culture including family and peer culture, school culture including high expectations of all students, authentic student academic engagement, and student aspirations.

Sources of Data: Survey data collected in the spring of 2017 will include student self reports of attitudes and knowledge about college going as well as reports of teacher and parent interaction with students regarding college-culture.

Methods: Data will come from a matched sample of Arkansas schools ranging from elementary to high school. In addition to a matched sample, survey data will be collected from special school categories including the students from the state’s most affluent district, KIPP charter schools, and STEM focused charter schools.

Expected Contributions: Little is known of the effect of promise programs on older students who are just years from making college choices. Even less is known about the potential effects of promise programs on even younger students, although the literature shows that students as young as 8 years old set their college expectations. A better understanding of how the promise of a college scholarship and the resulting change to school college-going culture might change a student’s educational trajectory, particularly if small shifts begin to accumulate early in an educational career, has important policy implications.

Question Relevance: This study should add to the knowledge and understanding of how promise programs not only affect those who “participate” but also any spillover effects to the school community at large, as we would expect schools and teachers to treat all students in a promise zone similarly. Additionally, we will see evidence of outcomes on student’s college going culture in promise zones and any potential differences between those who qualify for the promise and those who do not.