This report presents findings from the evaluation of the Creating College and Career Readiness (C3R) initiative, which was funded by a U.S. Department of Education Investments in Innovation development grant. The initiative asked rural Kentucky schools to implement a suite of personalized software. C3R was the first implementation of the suite in the kindergarten–12th grade context and it aimed to prepare students for life after high school.

Evaluation of the Creating College and Career Readiness Initiative in Kentucky

Andrea Phillips, John F. Pane, Andy Bogart

ResearchPublished Sep 27, 2018

The Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative and Green River Regional Educational Cooperative received an Investing in Innovation (i3) development grant from the U.S. Department of Education to implement the Creating College and Career Readiness (C3R) initiative. The initiative offered a suite of software developed by WIN Learning (WIN) to support college and career readiness (CCR) among students in grades 8 through 12. The software suite was originally created for adults in workforce development programs and, in 2011, C3R was the first implementation of the suite in the kindergarten–12th grade context.

This report presents findings from the evaluation of C3R. One hundred twenty-seven schools, including technical schools and area technical centers, implemented the C3R initiative with students in grades 8 to 12 from the 2013–2014 to 2016–2017 school years. The initiative involved the implementation of three software applications that aimed to prepare students for life after high school.

Key Findings

Few students used all three software applications every year

  • The number of students who used even a single software application in a year was extremely low.
  • Approximately 20 percent of students eligible to participate in C3R engaged in at least one software application in a given year.
  • No students met fidelity for the overall initiative.

Various factors influenced implementation

  • No school implemented C3R as intended by WIN; school-designed implementation plans indicated schools had not intended to.
  • Principals, teachers, and cooperative staff reported students could not log in or lost connectivity while using the software in the early years of C3R use.
  • Principals and teachers reported students often completed work only to find that the software had not recorded their progress primarily in years 1 and 2 of C3R.
  • Some teachers reported that the district had other software that provided similar supports for students as provided by the C3R software.
  • The majority of schools were low-resourced schools with limited access to computers or other devices during the C3R school years.

School staff also identified factors that supported implementation

  • Educators and the cooperatives' staff who participated in interviews supported the goals of C3R and reported that it was highly aligned with each school's improvement goals.
  • The Kentucky Department of Education provides and manages high-speed internet in schools across the state. The access provided by the state eliminated some of the most basic barriers to implementing an online intervention.
  • Regional meetings in the early years were helpful in learning from other schools.

Recommendations

  • Approach the adoption of the software as a partnership between software developers and educators, particularly when the adoption is in a new context.
  • Clearly communicate how educational technology supports school or district goals in order to build buy-in.
  • Establish implementation goals that jointly reflect perspectives of software developers and educators.
  • Develop tools and resources to support implementation planning.
  • Convene regular meetings of educators and software developers to discuss successes, challenges, and future directions.
  • Assess technical capabilities of software and infrastructure (e.g., broadband, administrative settings, connectivity) prior to wide-scale usage.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

RAND Style Manual
Phillips, Andrea, John F. Pane, and Andy Bogart, Evaluation of the Creating College and Career Readiness Initiative in Kentucky, RAND Corporation, RR-2745-KVEC, 2018. As of September 12, 2024: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2745.html
Chicago Manual of Style
Phillips, Andrea, John F. Pane, and Andy Bogart, Evaluation of the Creating College and Career Readiness Initiative in Kentucky. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2018. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2745.html.
BibTeX RIS

The research described in this report was sponsored by the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative and conducted by RAND Education.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.