Eigth Grade Academy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

External Study Finds Citizen Schools Students Significantly Outperform Peers

National Nonprofit Spurs Positive Academic Outcomes and Successful Completion of High School

Boston, MA – August 31, 2010 – Policy Studies Associates (PSA) issued a final report today on a long-term, multi-phase evaluation of Citizen Schools, a national nonprofit that partners with middle schools in low-income communities to extend the learning day and increase student achievement.  Among other positive findings, the study found that former Citizen Schools participants were more likely to achieve at higher rates in high school and more likely to graduate from high school on time compared to a group of matched nonparticipants.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Achieving High School Graduation is the seventh and final report from the evaluation of the middle and high school experiences of former Citizen Schools participants in Boston.  The report looks at the academic trajectories of youth who participated in the Citizen Schools 8th Grade Academy program, comparing former participants with matched nonparticipants and, when possible, with Boston Public School (BPS) students overall.  In addition to significantly higher on-time graduation rates (71 percent compared to 59 percent), the report shows that Citizen Schools participants had higher math performance, higher English Language Arts scores on standardized tests and higher attendance rates in high school than their peers. Read more…