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This report represents the first of three that will be released over the course of the study. It answers two primary questions: (1) How has Boston Coaching for Completion (BosC4C) been implemented? and (2) What was the cost to implement the program? Over the 2015-16 academic year, the study collected data, including by conducting intensive interviews with staff from the nonprofit organizations and from 10 partner colleges; administering an online survey to participating students; conducting focus groups with non-participating students; and analyzing information from the program's records of coaches' interactions with students. This report is designed to help develop a common standard of practice by describing the nonprofit coaching organizations' and colleges' activities, students' experiences, commonalities and differences across the organizations, and costs of implementing the BosC4C program. It also outlines the elements of transition coaching that appear to be consistent across the nine nonprofit organizations--as well as idiosyncratic to individual organizations--and describes challenges faced by organizations and their staff and by students. Based on what we learned, several themes have emerged.

After reviewing evidence from more than 280 studies conducted in 25 countries, Abt found consistent evidence that inclusive educational settings--in which children with disabilities are educated alongside their non-disabled peers--can have substantial benefits for the cognitive and social development of those children. The research also suggests that inclusion can have important positive benefits for all students, because including a student with a disability requires teachers and school administrators to develop a better understanding of the individual strengths and needs of every student. [The report was prepared for Instituto Alana.]