College Summit National Capital Region: Launch Program

College Summit is a nonprofit organization that aims to improve the culture around going to college and college enrollment rates in high schools nationwide. It’s particularly focused on schools serving large numbers of low-income and minority students, as well as those who would be first-generation college students. The organization uses Peer Leaders, who are trained high school seniors charged with helping their classmates through the college application process.

Study Goals:

This report describes the implementation of the College Summit Launch and Navigator programs in high schools. The report also examined how student outcomes for 16 participating schools compared with student outcomes for similar schools that did not participate in College Summit.

Research Questions:

The research questions were:

• How well are the core concepts of the College Summit Launch and Navigator programs implemented as intended by College Summit and partner schools?
• Which factors contribute to the implementation of College Summit Launch? Which factors impede that implementation?
• How do educators involved in implementing College Summit and Launch rate the quality and utility of program materials? How do they rate the training and support provided by College Summit staff?
• How do school staff members involved in implementing College Summit and Launch describe the relationship between program implementation and the development of a culture around going to college?
• What is the difference between College Summit Launch schools and comparison schools that didn’t participate in the program on the following:
  • 9^th to 10^th grade persistence rates
  • High school graduation rates
  • College enrollment rates
  • College persistence rates

Findings:

The report found the following:

• Participating schools implemented certain core elements of the College Summit Launch and Navigator programs well. Those elements included offering credit-bearing courses, having counselors who engaged in discussions and set expectations with their students about college and career preparation, and utilizing Peer Leaders.
• Ninety-three percent of surveyed respondents (teachers) reported having discussions on the topic of college and career preparation with students during their College Summit course or during one-on-one conversations.
• Having the school principal buy-in to the goals of both programs was deemed the most crucial part of fostering increased college awareness among both students and staff.
• College Summit schools had 9^th- to 10^th-grade persistence rates of 88 percent and comparison schools had a persistence rate of 87 percent.
• College Summit schools had a graduation rate of 86 percent and comparison schools had a graduation rate of 83 percent.
• College Summit schools had a college enrollment rate of 55 percent and comparison schools had a college enrollment rate of 56 percent.

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