A Promise Kept? The Impact of the El Dorado Promise Scholarship on Student Achievement

Abstract

We examine whether the El Dorado Promise, a guaranteed college scholarship program for students in the El Dorado School District (EDSD), affected elementary and middle school achievement using a quasi-experimental matching design. We first match the EDSD with similar districts to create a pool of potential comparison students then match students on prior achievement and demographics. The Promise leads to an estimated 0.11 standard deviation gain in math achievement; this effect is statistically significant and practically meaningful. Results are similar from district-level synthetic control and difference-in-differences analyses. We find larger effects on students with above-average prior achievement. We are unable to construct an appropriate comparison group to estimate the impact of the Promise on literacy achievement.

Incentives and Existing Stratification: Social Capital, College Planning, and a Promise Scholarship Program

“…C. Gonzalez et al, 2011; Iriti et al, 2018). When students had multiple streams of aligned resources and norms (social capital), they were better able to navigate their school contexts and thus TDP requirements (Ash & Ritter, 2014).…”

“…Ash and Ritter (2014), for example, examined the El Dorado promise and provided an illustration of how the universal messaging of, or eligibility for, a promise scholarship program can lead to “conditions” (see Miller-Adams, 2011), such as proactive actions among faculty and staff to improve student outcomes. In addition, schools leveraged systemic changes, such as K–8 college conversations, career preparation courses, and College 101 courses, as well as greater racial and gender equity in advanced high school courses (see also Iriti et al, 2018).…”

“…In addition, schools leveraged systemic changes, such as K–8 college conversations, career preparation courses, and College 101 courses, as well as greater racial and gender equity in advanced high school courses (see also Iriti et al, 2018). In matching eighth-grade students with peers in surrounding districts, Ash and Ritter (2014) reported that El Dorado eighth graders outscored their matched peers in math and literacy, with gains made among low-income and African American promise students. Alternatively, G. C. Gonzalez and colleagues (2011) conducted focus groups with Pittsburgh Public School students: one focus group of students in Grades 8 to 10 who had not yet met the promise scholarship requirements, and one group of 11th and 12th graders who had.…”

Inside the Black Box: A Difference-in-Difference Analysis of Shifts in Postsecondary Institution Spending Patterns in Response to "Promise" Financial Aid Programs

“…Prior research has shown that these enrollment effect vary by race and by type of promise program (Bell & Gándara, 2021;. Likewise, teachers change their expectations (and related behavior) that their students will attend college Ash, Swanson, & Ritter, 2021). Prior research has shown that promise programs generate student behavioral, enrollment, and college choice changes, which yields changes in enrollment and the composition of student bodies that might cause institutions to alter internal spending behaviors.…”

Do Credit Momentum Policies Through the 15 to Finish Improve Academic Progression and Completion of Low-Income, First-Generation Students? Evidence from a College Promise Program

“…Over the last decade—and especially in recent years—college promise programs and debt-free college proposals have been proliferating at both the local and state levels (Ash et al, 2021 ; Bell & Gándara, 2021 ; College Promise, 2021a ; Kunkle, 2022 ; Lee et al, 2022 ; Leigh & González Canché, 2021 ; Odle et al, 2021 ). Today, approximately twenty-one statewide college promise programs are in operation (Callahan et al, 2019 ).…”