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Consortium students and matched non-participants are followed over time using ACT assessment data (Explore, Plan, Aspire, and The ACT) and college enrollment records from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC).",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/act-ccrec-core-research-program-study-questions-and-design/529278/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/act-ccrec-core-research-program-study-questions-and-design/529278.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mary Man","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-12","2026-10-09",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the purpose of the core research program described in the report?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It evaluates the effectiveness of 14 GEAR UP state grants on students’ academic achievement, college-going, and college retention using a longitudinal design with matched comparison students.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the program collect outcome data over time?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It follows Consortium students and a matched non-participant group using assessment data from ACT Explore, ACT Plan, ACT Aspire, and The ACT, along with college enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC).",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What role does the base year (8th grade) play in the study design?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Base-year questions establish a baseline for estimating the effect of GEAR UP and for selecting an appropriate matched comparison group of nonparticipants, rather than addressing causal impact directly.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},529278,1791586084,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},7421720224475,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","ACT-CCREC Core Research Program: Study Questions and Design  \nTy M. Cruce  \nWP-2015-01 January, 2015  \nACT Working Paper Series   \nACT working papers document preliminary research. The papers are intended to promote discussion and feedback before formal publication. The research does not necessarily reflect the views of ACT.  \nACT-CCREC Core Research Program: Study Questions and Design  \nAbstract  \nThis report provides a non-technical overview of the guiding research questions and research design for the ACT-led core research program conducted on behalf of the GEAR UP College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (CCREC). The core research program is a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of 14 GEAR UP state grants on the academic achievement, college going and college retention of low-income and other at-risk students who are eligible to receive grant-funded services. This research program will follow Consortium students and a matched comparison group of non-participants over time using assessment data from ACT Explore®, ACT Plan® or ACT Aspire®, and The ACT®, and college enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to examine differences in the academic growth and educational outcomes of these two groups.  \nKeywords: GEAR UP, consortium, research design, college readiness, enrollment, retention  \nIntroduction  \nGaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) is a U.S. Department of Education discretionary grant program that focuses on increasing the number of low-income students who enter and successfully complete postsecondary education. The program provides six- or seven-year grants to states and partnerships to fund services such as tutoring, mentoring, financial aid counseling, and academic planning for students at high-poverty middle and high schools. Grantees can elect to offer grant-funded services either to a specific cohort of students followed over the life-cycle of the grant (a cohort model) or to any students in grades 7-12 who are designated in need of those services (a priority model) .  \nFourteen states that received a GEAR UP state grant during either the 2011 or 2012 award cycle have formed a member consortium known as the College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium (hereafter, Consortium) . 1 The mission of the Consortium is to provide research and evaluation to inform program implementation and administration and to demonstrate the program’s value-added impact and efficacy. To assist with this mission, the Consortium has joined together with the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships (NCCEP) to serve as managing partner, the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) to construct a multi-state database to support the Consortium’s evaluation and research initiatives, and ACT, [Inc. to](Inc. to) provide additional research support based on its longitudinal assessment system.  \nAs a part of its contribution to the Consortium, ACT is leading two long-term research efforts:  \n1 The 14 states comprising the consortium are Arizona, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.  \n1. The core research program, addressed in greater detail in the remainder of this report, is a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of GEAR UP state grants on the academic achievement, college going and college retention of low-income and other academically at-risk students who are eligible to receive grant-funded services. This research program will follow Consortium students over five data collection periods from 8th grade to their second year of college using achievement data from a suite of assessments (ACT Explore®, ACT Plan® or ACT Aspire®, and The ACT®) and college enrollment data from NSC to examine the academic growth and educational outcomes of these students. A matched comparison group of non-participants will also be followed over time using assessment and college","cbCaiv0plXFsbAYy","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiv0plXFsbAYy","pdf",114992,17,"English","# Introduction\n## GEAR UP program context and consortium roles\n## Core and supplemental research program overview\n# Guiding Research Questions for the Core Research Program\n## General causal question\n## Base year (8th grade)\n## Data collection periods and topic areas","[{\"question\":\"What is the purpose of the core research program described in the report?\",\"answer\":\"It evaluates the effectiveness of 14 GEAR UP state grants on students’ academic achievement, college-going, and college retention using a longitudinal design with matched comparison students.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the program collect outcome data over time?\",\"answer\":\"It follows Consortium students and a matched non-participant group using assessment data from ACT Explore, ACT Plan, ACT Aspire, and The ACT, along with college enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC).\"},{\"question\":\"What role does the base year (8th grade) play in the study design?\",\"answer\":\"Base-year questions establish a baseline for estimating the effect of GEAR UP and for selecting an appropriate matched comparison group of nonparticipants, rather than addressing causal impact directly.\"}]","ACT-CCREC Core Research Program: Study Questions and Design | PDF",1791520843,43]