A BluePrint for Success: Case Studies of Successful - Educational ...

A Blueprint for Success
Attendance at all College Bound student events (tutoring, academic academies, community
service events, ACT prep course, FAFSA enrollment seminars, etc.)
Academic performance, monitored each grading period for all students, in high school and
college
Number of community service hours for each high school student
College scholarship and award money by high school student
PROFILE and FAFSA verification completion
College acceptance and admittance by student
Students benefitting from mental health services and number of counseling hours provided
by CB
Financial stability of college students, measured in relation to their individual financial plan
Percent of students living on campus first and second year
College Bound St. Louis has a daily presence in partner high schools and maintains a cooperative
relationship with school districts as well as close ties to students and families. Given these positive
relationships and strong presence in the schools, the program is well positioned to capture a wide
spectrum of data from and about students. CB-STL staff monitors students’ grades, course selection,
attendance, and school suspensions through quarterly progress reports and official school transcripts,
teacher and guidance counselor meetings and student/family interviews. Access to information and
frequent contact with the students has been proven effective at assisting CB-STL staff to quickly
identify students who are struggling academically or emotionally and to initiate appropriate interventions.
Additionally, CB-STL students regularly complete evaluation instruments after classes and activities.
College Bound St. Louis’s data collection practices include student learning logs, surveys, inventories,
standardized test scores, pre- and post-tests. Evaluation instruments were created with assistance
from university partners and provide immediate feedback on the effectiveness of each curriculum.
Data are collected continually throughout the program from students, schools, administrators and
families. Data are then used to measure the effectiveness of programs and provide a quantifiable basis
for continuous improvement efforts. CB-STL uses their metrics to compare CB-STL program effectiveness
to national standards and common measures of academic success. Moreover, data are used to
inform funders, policy makers, and high school and higher education partners.
CB-STL is committed to using data for program improvement. For example, CB-STL uses data to
observe patterns and trends within a student’s performance over time, and to use that information
both to empower the student and to provide interventions when necessary. Staff members also assess
‘best fit’ universities for students by examining patterns such as financial aid awards by school. One
of the program components that experienced several redesign efforts was the ACT preparation
course. According to CB-STL, this program has gone through four different iterations in order to
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