National Job Corps Study: Report on Study Implementation.

The National Job Corps Study was conducted in 1994-1996 to provide a thorough and rigorous assessment of the impacts of the Job Corps on key participant outcomes. To ensure that the study was well implemented, a study team from Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., (MPR) investigated outcome and admission (OA) procedures in each Job Corps region and developed proposed procedures for conducting random assignment tailored to each region. A four-step core random assignment process was implemented. During the sample intake period, MPR staff monitored sample buildup to ensure that the research sample was near target levels and determine whether the initial sample design parameters required adjustment. Job Corps staff implemented the random assignment procedures successfully over the 16-month sample intake period. Overall, the study had noticeable effects on key aspects of program operations but modest effects on OA counselors' activities and the composition of students coming to the program. (Fifteen tables/figures are included. The following items are appended: lists of special programs excluded from the Job Corps evaluation and data items needed for random assignment processing and monitoring; Job Corps study materials and forms; a chronology of random assignment implementation; and a list of processing steps performed by MPR before random assignment.) (MN)