AchieveMpls: STEP-UP

STEP-UP is a youth employment program for Minneapolis youth ages 14-21. The program is divided into two interventions: Achieve is for students ages 16-21 while Discover is for ages 14-15. STEP-UP serves youth who face some of the greatest barriers to employment, including youth from low income families, youth from immigrant families, and youth with disabilities. STEP-UP recruits, trains, and places youth in internships with a wide range of Twin Cities businesses, nonprofits, and public agencies.

Intended short-term outcomes for participants include:

• An increase in professional and life knowledge and skills (employability)
• Improved school outcomes

Intended longer-term outcomes include:

• Increased graduation rates
• An increase in college or other post-secondary enrollment
• An increase in college persistence and obtaining a postsecondary degree
• An increase in employment rates
• An increase in earnings

Study Goals:

This report examines STEP-UP’s impact on students who participated in the program in the summer of 2016 and compares results with participants from the summer of 2015. The report also explores implementation data for the summer of 2016 and compares results to summer sessions in 2014-2015.

Research Questions:

The research questions were:

• Implementation Questions:
  • Has the STEP-UP program implemented all of its major components with fidelity?
  • To what extent has the STEP-UP program increased its outputs over time?
  • How do perceptions of the STEP-UP Program impact applications and retention?
• Impact Questions:
  • Does the STEP-UP summer jobs program improve school outcomes?
  • Does the STEP-UP summer jobs program improve employability outcomes?
  • Do differential experiences in the STEP-UP summer job program – internship quality, length, longitudinal experience, and/or additional training – lead to differential outcomes on school and employability measures?

Findings:

The evaluation found the following:

• Participation in the STEP-UP program had small but positive effects for youth in the program compared to similar youth who were not in the program for being on track to graduate.
• At the end of school year 2017, Achieve participants’ GPAs were slightly higher than the comparison group after controlling for GPA in SY2016. However, GPAs declined for both groups from 2016 to 2017.
• There was a minimal, but statistically significant positive effect on attendance for STEP-UP participants compared to non-participants. However, attendance for both groups went down from 2016 to 2017.
• In a self-report pre-post survey, STEP-UP youth were more likely to report positive responses related to employability after completing their internships, including knowing what questions to ask in an interview and what questions to expect. Achieve participants were more likely to report being able to stay calm under stress and accept criticism openly. Discover participants were able to name people for job references and communicate in a professional way.

For more information, download the full report and report brief.