Students Training for Academic Readiness (STAR): Year Three Evaluation Report

This report presents findings from the Year 3 evaluation of Texas' state-level Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, or GEAR UP, grant. GEAR UP grant requirements include an evaluation component designed to assess program effectiveness and to measure progress toward project goals. To this end, the evaluation considers the following research questions: (1) What are the characteristics of participating STAR schools, students, teachers, and parents?; (2) How is STAR implemented across participating campuses?; and (3) What are the effects of STAR implementation on indicators of student achievement and college preparation? The evaluation employs a mixed-methods research design that combines qualitative and quantitative approaches to analyses. Data sources include interviews with district and campus-level administrators, core subject area teachers, counselors, and STAR coordinators; surveys of students, parents, teachers, librarians, and counselors; observations in STAR classrooms; and demographic and performance data collected through the Texas Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) and the Texas Academic Excellence Indicator System (AEIS). On average, STAR campuses "partially" implemented STAR activities and services in 2008-09. Across the program, schools supported STAR, but had difficulty implementing specific initiatives and achieving project goals, such as supporting teachers' and students' professional and academic growth, increasing academic standards, and providing postsecondary information to parents and students. Findings from the 2008-09 evaluation suggest that increased experience with the STAR project may improve implementation quality. On average, middle schools, in their third year of implementation, earned higher scores than high schools, which were in their first year of implementation in 2008-09. Appended are: (1) Results from the Survey of Teachers, Counselors, and Librarians; (2) Results from the Parent Survey; (3) Results from the Middle School Student Survey; (4) Results from the High School Student Survey; (5) Instruments and Protocols; (6) STAR Goals and Objectives; (7) Implementation Analysis: Data Sources and Methodology; (8) Implementation Analysis: Scoring Rubric; and (9) Advanced Course Performance Measures. (Contains 123 tables, 43 figures and 27 footnotes.) [For "Students Training for Academic Readiness (STAR): Year Three Evaluation Report. Executive Summary," see ED535999.]