Evaluation of Achieving the Dream

Lumina Foundation is contracting with MDRC to conduct a multi-year evaluation of the initiative which will generate findings of interest to policymakers, funders, community college officials, educators, researchers, and media representatives.

The evaluation will ask three broad categories of questions:

• What is occurring as a part of the Achieving the Dream initiative?
• Have student outcomes improved during the period of the initiative?
• To what extent are improvements in student outcomes attributable to the reforms that colleges have implemented?

Two types of evaluation will be particularly useful at answering these questions: one focused on the efficacy of the overall initiative, and the other focused on the results achieved by specific programs or reforms undertaken by the participating colleges. During Achieving the Dream’s developmental phase, MDRC provided formative feedback to Lumina Foundation and its partners. In 2005, the evaluation is shifting its energies toward studying program implementation and trends at the 27 “round one” colleges. Specifically, the evaluation will document the reforms that each college undertakes and measure changes in attitudes and practices among administrators and faculty at the colleges. The evaluation will also examine the effects of specific courses or programs that are expected to raise student achievement in several colleges.

MDRC Reports  

Building a Culture of Evidence for Community College Student Success