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Early College High Schools and College Preparednessto quantify the effects of the program, while others were qualitative, descriptive, or only focused onparticipants’ perceptions. The 21 studies that in some way quantified effects varied widely inmethodological rigor; only a few attempted to control for preexisting student characteristics, priorstudent achievement, or students’ motivations to participate in the program (Bailey & Karp, 2003). Apair of recent studies in Florida using data similar to ours provides stronger evidence of the effect ofcourse-taking on secondary and post-secondary outcomes. Advanced course-taking increases 10thgrade test scores and raises high school graduation and college enrollment rates (Long et al., 2012),and differences in math course-taking explains roughly a third of the gap in readiness for college-levelmath between white, non-poor students and black, Hispanic, and poor students (Long, Iatarola, &Conger, 2009).Among the correlational studies controlling for student demographic and academiccharacteristics, a number find positive correlations between concurrent enrollment participation andpost-secondary student outcomes. Participants are more likely than non-participants to enroll incollege (Karp et al., 2007; Swanson, 2008) and more likely to pursue a bachelor’s than associate’sdegree (Karp et al., 2007). Conditional on matriculating in a post-secondary program, participants aremore likely to return for a second year of coursework (Eimers & Mullen, 2003; Michalowski, 2007;Swanson, 2008), have higher first year GPAs (Michalowski, 2007), have higher second year GPAs(Karp et al., 2007; Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, 2006), and earn a bachelor’s degree(Swanson, 2008). A fair criticism of all these studies is that they may conflate student motivation withparticipation in explaining the differences in post-secondary outcomes. Nevertheless, the positivecorrelations have motivated educator and policymaker interest in the Early College High Schoolmodel.CEPWC Working Paper Series No. 7. January 2013.Available at ublications.Curry School of Education Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia5

Early College High Schools and College PreparednessEarly College High SchoolsThe Early College High School Initiative was founded in 2002 by the Bill & Melinda GatesFoundation with support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and theW.K. Kellogg Foundation, among others. All ECHS schools partner with a higher educationinstitution to offer high school students from underrepresented populations the opportunity to earnone or two years of free, transferable college course credit in four or five years’ time. Students can relyon a comprehensive support system to develop college-level skills (ECHS Initiative, 2010). The modelemphasizes rigorous instruction, relevant curricula, and supportive relationships between students andstaff, all of which are aided by the schools’ small size – no more than 100 students per grade. Theorganization Jobs for the Future (JFF) offers technical assistance to intermediary organizations, eachproviding ground-level support for a set of Early College schools.A multi-year evaluation of the ECHS Initiative conducted for the Gates Foundation providesthe most comprehensive nationwide look at the model’s implementation and its potential effects onstudent achievement (American Institutes for Research & SRI International, 2009; Berger, Adelman,& Cole, 2010). A survey of all 157 Early College campuses open in 2007/08 reveals two-thirds werecreated new for the purpose of implementing the model, with many of the other pre-existing schoolsconverting from Middle College High Schools.1 The Early Colleges have successfully enrolled highpercentages of minorities and low-income students serving on average 70 percent minority and 57percent low-income students, versus district school averages of 64 percent and 55 percent,respectively, between 2006 and 2009 (Berger et al., 2010). Almost two-thirds of the schools formedpartnerships with two-year colleges and universities and just over half are located on a college campus.Middle Colleges differ from Early Colleges in two key respects. First, students typically do not enroll in Middle Collegesin the 9th grade. Second, Middle College students are only eligible to earn some college credit but not a full two-year’sworth as offered by Early Colleges.1CEPWC Working Paper Series No. 7. January 2013.Available at ublications.Curry School of Education Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia6

Early College High Schools and College PreparednessSeventy-three percent of ECHS 12th and 13th graders in 2007-08 completed at least one college course,50 percent of whom took a college course in a core academic subject (i.e., social science, history,science, English, and mathematics). The average Early College graduate in 2007 earned 23 collegecredits.Unfortunately, data availability seriously restricted the study’s ability to access the impact ofEarly Colleges on student academic outcomes (American Institutes for Researcher & SRIInternational, 2009; Berger et al., 2010). Only school-level aggregate data on Early College andconventional high schools in the same districts were available, not the preferred student-level data.The analysis, like earlier evaluations of dual-enrollment programs, is unable to control for pre-existingdifferences among students. Such comparisons are likely biased in favor of the Early Colleges becausethe average Early College student is likely different from the average conventional high school studentin meaningful ways related to her performance (e.g., Early College students may be more motivated).With that in mind, the analysis finds students attending Early College schools outperform their peersat other high schools within the same district on statewide assessments in both mathematics andEnglish language arts. Also, Early College schools located on college campuses have higherperformance relative to non-Early College schools than Early College schools not located on collegecampuses.A more recent study of schools in North Carolina provides stronger evidence of the ECHSmodel’s positive impact on student high school achievement. Although the school sample is muchsmaller (12 schools), the analysis exploits a random assignment sample generated by over-subscriptionlotteries at each of the schools to isolate the model’s causal impacts (Edmunds et al., 2012). ECHSstudents both take and pass algebra I at higher rates, by 10 and 6 percentage points respectively, andare significantly more likely to take and pass both at least one college preparatory course and at leastCEPWC Working Paper Series No. 7. January 2013.Available at ublications.Curry School of Education Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia7

Early College High Schools and College Preparednesstwo college preparatory courses (i.e., algebra I, geometry, algebra II, one mathematics course beyondalgebra II) by the end of 9th grade. Taking and passing rates for English I do not differ significantlybetween the treatment and control groups. Although the study’s generalizability is limited by theselective small sample, it provides compelling evidence that the ECHS model improves studentacademic achievement in high school.Our study expands our understanding of this increasingly popular dual-enrollment/dual-creditprogram by improving upon prior evaluations. Our sample includes all 33 Early College schoolsopened in school years 2005/06 and 2006/07 as part of a statewide innovative high school initiative.Hence, the external validity of our results is wider than the randomized North Carolina evaluation.And leveraging the student-level longitudinal data maintained by the North Carolina Education DataResearch Center allows us to control for observed pre-existing differences between ECHSparticipants and non-participants that limited the nationwide evaluation. We employ propensity scorematching to identify similar students attending non-ECHS schools to mimic random assignment andthen utilize a difference-in-difference approach as a robust check on these results. Our sample, data,and methodology are described below.ECHS in North CarolinaAlthough North Carolina adopted a dual-enrollment policy in 1983 as part of the Huskins bill,the rapid growth of Early College High Schools in the state has been driven by the Learn and Earninitiative launched in September 2004 by Governor Mike Easley. The initiative, funded by both statemonies and a 20 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, seeks to increase highschool graduation rates and college readiness through the creation of smaller, innovative high schoolsthat provide high school students with access to college courses. Schools supported through thiseffort have a priority to serve students from groups underrepresented in college—first-generationCEPWC Working Paper Series No. 7. January 2013.Available at ublications.Curry School of Education Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia8

Early College High Schools and College Preparednesscollege-goers, lower-income, minority, and students struggling in conventional high schools. Eachschool is partnered with and many are located on a 2- or 4-year college campus, serves no more than100 students per grade (or 400 students per school), and provides the opportunity for every student toearn a 2-year college degree or two years of college transferrable credit within 4 or 5 years. In the fallof 2011, 74 Early College schools served more than 12,000 students throughout the state, the most ofany state in the U.S. (ECHS Initiative, 2010; State Board of Education and North CarolinaDepartment of Public Instruction, 2011).Each ECHS enters into a six-year partnership with the North Carolina New Schools Project(NCNSP), a public-private organization created in 2003. The partnership includes one year ofplanning and five years of implementation support. NCNSP provides each school with a variety ofservices to ensure adherence to five design principles: (1) the school exists to prepare students forcollege and work, (2) the school is characterized by powerful learning and teaching, (3) the staff usestheir knowledge of the students to improve student learning, (4) the staff’s shared vision of theinnovative high school is reflected in everything they do at the school, and (5) the school’sorganizational structure and allocation of resources are designed to facilitate and support the otherfour design principles.2 Toward that goal, each ECHS receives funding for two school-basedpositions—an additional school counselor and a work-based learning experiences coordinator—plus acollege liaison. Each school is also assigned, during the first two years, a school change coach whoserves as the change facilitator at the site and an instructional coach who works with staff on-siteduring the last four years. Professional development activities for teachers and principals are providedthrough the Integrated System of School Support Services (IS4) which combines the instructionalIn 2010 (outside this study’s observation period), NSP added a sixth design principle – shared leadership working toensure the success of every student.2CEPWC Working Paper Series No. 7. January 2013.Available at ublications.Curry School of Education Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia9

Early College High Schools and College Preparednesscoach with peer school reviews (based on the medical school rounds model) and leadershipfacilitators.The first 33 Early College schools opened through the Learn and Earn initiative comprise ouranalytic sample—13 opened in Fall 2005 and 20 in Fall 2006.3 Four schools partnered with a memberschool of the University of North Carolina system with the others partnering with a NC communitycollege. Spread throughout the state, the schools are located in 31 districts but serve students from 39districts. Almost all the schools began with only 9th graders in the first year and have added anadditional grade each year.Roughly 4,400 students enrolled as freshmen in these 33 Early College schools between2004/05 and 2006/07 (see Table 1). As for the recruitment of students from subgroupsunderrepresented in college, the schools have been more successful with some subgroups than others.Compared to 9th graders statewide, ECHS freshmen are more likely to be potential first-generationcollege-goers (56 versus 51 percent), have parents without bachelor’s degrees (74 versus 66 percent),and slightly more likely to be eligible for free/reduced-price lunch (48 versus 44 percent). There is nodifference in the students’ racial and ethnic background (56 percent are white). ECHS students,however, score far above the statewide average on both the 8th grade mathematics and reading exams(0.29 and 0.34 standard deviations units higher, respectively) and would likely have done well inconventional high schools. It is important to match these students to similar students at conventionalhigh schools to assess the impact of attending an ECHS on student pipeline progression.(Insert Table 1 about here)One school opened in Fall 2004 but did not start working with the New Schools Project until fall 2005. Seven schoolsexisted prior to the initiative as Middle College High Schools which are quite different from ECHS. Students usually donot attend an MCHS for four years and are only eligible to earn some college credit, not the 2 years’ worth at the center ofthe ECHS model.3CEPWC Working Paper Series No. 7. January 2013.Available at ublications.Curry School of Education Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia10

Early College High Schools and College PreparednessData and MethodologyLongitudinal student-level data from North Carolina allow us to observe students’ pipelineprogression as they advance through high school. The data indicate the school and grade level inwhich the student is enrolled as well as her mathematics and science course-taking and performanceon the statewide End-of-Course (EOC) exams. The data panel covers students enrolled in any publicschool in the state at any time between 2004/05 and 2008/09, providing data on several 9th gradecohorts in each Early College High School. We identify three cohorts of 9th graders (enrolling in2004/05 through 2006/07) and follow them through the high school grades.4We define two measures of pipeline progression—persistence and proficient performance—that both impose a timeline for the completion of a sequence of college-preparatory courses. Aseparate set of pipeline progression measures are defined for mathematics and science. Each pipelineconsists of three courses—algebra 1, geometry, and algebra 2 in mathematics, and biology and anytwo of physical science, chemistry and physics in science. In order for students to persist in thepipeline, they simply must take an additional pipeline course each year. In order for students toprogress through the pipeline with proficient performance, they must demonstrate mastery of thecourse material by performing proficiently on the course’s EOC exam. The state defines proficiencyas scores at either Proficiency Level III or IV. Students must take the course in order to take theexam. If they do not take the course, they do not demonstrate proficient performance by default.Thus, proficiently performing students are a subset of persisting students.The pipeline concept flows from the fact that high school mathematics and science curriculaare sequential; therefore, it is just as important when students take the courses as whether they takeOur statewide cohort identification strategy requires students to be observed in either the 8 th or the 9th grade. We excludeseveral groups of students: (1) those never observed in high school, (2) those who were ever enrolled in special stateschools (e.g., schools for the deaf) or in vocational, special education, or alternative high schools), and (3) those fewstudents with highly irregular (and suspect) grade patterns (skipping or regressing grades).4CEPWC Working Paper Series No. 7. January 2013.Available at ublications.Curry School of Education Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy University of Virginia11

Early College High Schools and College Preparednessthem. For both measures, we judge a student’s pipeline progression at the end of each grade relativeto the timelines indicated in Figure 1. On-track pipeline progression in mathematics, for example,requires a student take (persistence) and demonstrate mastery of the course material (proficientperformance) in at least one course by the end of 9th grade, in two by the end of 10th grade, and in allthree by the end of 11th grade. Once a student’s progression falls off-track, she remains off-track. Themotivation behind the pipeline concept is that schools should help students avoid discovering later inhigh school that certain opportunities (e.g., courses with prerequisites, college admissions,scholarships, etc.) are now closed to them because they did not take specific courses in earlier grades.5In addition, research suggests that once a student falls off-track i

The Early College High School (ECHS) model, with more than 230 replications in 28 states and the District of Columbia, re-envisions the high school educational experience to be one in which students earn both a high school diploma and a two-year college degree (or two-year's worth of transferrable college credit) within four or five years.