Evaluation of the Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP). Did the Program Work? A Report on the Post Secondary Outcomes and Cost-Effectiveness of the QOP Program (1989-1993).

The Quantum Opportunities Project (QOP) was a multisite youth development demonstration project funded by the Ford Foundation in San Antonio (Texas), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), Milwaukee (Wisconsin), Saginaw (Michigan), and Oklahoma City (Oklahoma). The programs, organized around educational activities, guaranteed up to 250 hours of education, 250 hours of development activities, and 250 hours of service each full year from the ninth grade through high school for in-school youth or youth who had dropped out or left their original schools or neighborhoods. Students received hourly stipends between $1 and $1.33 with eventual bonuses. Twenty-five youths were enrolled in each program. Program evaluation undertaken by Brandeis University's Center for Human Resource included respondent surveys and subgroup comparisons for four sites, excluding Milwaukee, where data were not complete. Analysis indicates that QOP members, when compared to control groups, were more likely to graduate from high school, more likely to enroll in college, less likely to drop out, more likely to have received awards, and less likely to have children. Although QOP members were not immune from the many hazards of inner city life, the benefits of the program were made apparent by the evaluation. Seventeen figures, 16 tables, and newspaper clippings illustrate the discussion at the end of the document. (SLD)