Early Intervention Programs for Low Income Students: What Can Evaluations Reveal? A Systematic Review

In Canada and the United States, young people from low-income families are less likely than other youth to enroll in postsecondary education. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of early intervention programs on the participation of low-income students in postsecondary education, by looking at existing program evaluations. Early intervention is a programmatic approach to improving access to postsecondary education. Programs are designed to start early in the educational pathway and help those youth who might otherwise not participate in postsecondary education get the resources, support, counselling and information they need to participate. This study attempts to answer the question, what can evaluations reveal about the impact of early intervention programs on the postsecondary education preparation and enrollment of low-income youth. To try to answer the research question, this study examines 14 existing early intervention program evaluations, and the literature on program evaluations, to better understand the impact of these programs on the target population. The 14 program evaluations examined in this study include the following about how low-income students are served: the programs taken as a whole had moderate to strong impact on high school graduation and postsecondary enrollment, but moderate to nil impact on academic achievement and postsecondary retention; the effects seem to diminish when students leave the programs; the application process is a strong determinant of success in programs that require application, implying that these programs serve those students who are already motivated and aspirational; and, the impact of “place-based” programs which theoretically serve the most at-risk, low-income students, are ambiguous and require significantly more research. Finally, to better understand the impact of early intervention programs, it is recommended that there be a stronger emphasis on evaluation in these programs, and that future evaluations take into consideration the application process as a confounding variable in the effect of the program (i.e., have an experimental or quasi-experimental design with a control for application).Ph.D