The Texas Education Agency awarded a multi-year, statewide evaluation contract to Arroyo Research Services to study the effects of the Texas Dropout Recovery Pilot Program. The evaluation project began in 2008 and is expected to be completed in 2011. We are pleased to assist TEA in examining the effects of the TDRPP pay for performance model that directly ties project payments to demonstrated student academic progress and program completion.

Texas has had a large and growing problem with high school dropouts for many years. According to the Texas Education Agency (TEA) report on Secondary School Completions and Dropouts in Texas Public Schools 2007-08, 31,437 students who began 9th grade in Texas in Fall 2004 dropped out by Spring 2008. The dropout rate is not evenly distributed across racial/ethnic groups and gender. While the four-year longitudinal dropout rate overall was 10.5%, the rate varied significantly by group. Asian Pacific Islanders and White students had relatively low longitudinal dropout rates of 3.6% and 5.1% respectively compared to 16.1% for African American students and 14.4% for Hispanic students. Looking at other special populations the disparity is even more apparent. Bilingual/ESL students had a longitudinal dropout rate of 30.6%; the rate for Special Education students was 14.5%; and the rate for economically disadvantaged students was 15.7%.

This issue has an ongoing impact on the lives of students who drop out, as well as on the overall economy in Texas. Individuals without a high school diploma have lower earning power over the course of their lives. In Texas, the average annual earned income for an individual without a high school diploma is only $18,001, below the official Federal poverty guidelines for a family of three (United States Census Bureau, 2005). Just completing a high school degree translates to an increase in earnings of almost $7,600 a year ($25,649), while completing a bachelor degree brings the average annual income up to $44,132.

The state of Texas has aggressively sought to address these issues through a variety of state, local, and federally funded initiatives. House Bill 2237 (80th Texas Legislature, 2007), revised the education code and authorized additional funding for grants and programs for dropout prevention, high school success, and college and workforce readiness programs. Many Texas programs focus primarily on dropout prevention, including the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention Program, the Collaborative Dropout Reduction Pilot Program, Intensive Summer Programs, and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Communities in Schools projects. Additional programs that address dropout recovery include the Texas School Dropout Prevention and Reentry Program funded through the U.S. Department of Education. While a noteworthy commitment has been made to prevent students from dropping out, few programs have been initiated to assist individuals who have already dropped out re-enter the educational system. The Texas Dropout Recovery Pilot Program (TDRPP) represents one such effort. Designed as a state grant program, it seeks to identify and recruit students who have already dropped out of Texas public schools and to offer them the educational and social services they need to continue their education. TDRPP provided up to $6 million in 2008-2009 to 22 Cycle 1 grantees serving more than 1,173 former dropouts. <

TDRPP was established based on a recommendation of the High School Completion and Success Initiative Council and was funded by the Texas State Legislature. Competitive grants were made in August 2008 to organizations throughout the state that include local school districts, open enrollment charter schools, institutions of higher education (IHEs), county departments of education, and nonprofit education organizations.

The evaluation will focus on four main objectives defined by TEA:

• Describe and evaluate the implementation of program strategies
• Evaluate the impact of the program on student outcomes
• Evaluate the impact of the program on teacher /staff effectiveness
• Determine the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of the program