Long-term effects of integrated student support: the relation of an elementary school intervention with postsecondary enrollment and completion

Abstract

This study examines the long-term relation between an Integrated Student Support (ISS) intervention and postsecondary enrollment and completion for predominantly low-income students of color. We use propensity score weighting to estimate the relation between receiving ISS during elementary school and postsecondary outcomes for 2009–2017 high school graduates from an urban district serving a large proportion of students experiencing poverty. We find that students who received ISS in elementary school had a higher probability of enrolling in postsecondary education. For enrolled students, those who received ISS in elementary school had a higher probability of completing postsecondary education than the comparison group. Together, results suggest ISS may be an effective intervention to reduce barriers to postsecondary education and, thereby, to potentially reduce income- and race-based disparities in postsecondary outcomes.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the school district for their generosity and commitment to this work. The authors thank Henry Braun and Laura O’Dwyer for their feedback on prior versions of the manuscript. The authors also thank Claire Foley, Tina Chen-Xu, Deoksoon Kim, and Katherine Shields for their feedback related to the research project.

Disclaimer statement

This work was prepared while Courtney Pollack was employed at Boston College. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, or the United States government.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Inquiries about postsecondary and demographic data that support the findings of this study may be directed to Boston Public Schools. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under a data sharing agreement for this study. Due to the nature of this research, participants of this study did not agree for their intervention-related data to be shared publicly, so supporting data are not available.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by I. A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation; The Charles Hayden Foundation; and Barr Foundation.