An evaluation of Missouri's A+ Schools Program

The A+ School Program takes a two-pronged approach towards improving Missouri's educational system and it has been phased in gradually since 1997. It promotes high school institutional change through the provision of grants and it provides students with financial incentives to continue their education in Missouri's public 2-year colleges.;The purpose of this research is to evaluate the effects of the A + Program on Missouri high schools and post-secondary institutions. The use of administrative data provided by the Missouri state government assures greater reliability of the measures of program participation and post-secondary school attendance than obtained in studies using survey data. Program impacts are estimated by difference-in-differences estimates using the high school as the unit of analysis. Outcome measures include high school dropout rates, college enrollment rates, average test performance and grades of high school seniors.;This research explores how school characteristics affect the decision by high schools to participate in the A+ program. It also examines student attributes to distinguish those A+ eligible students who actually enroll in 2-year colleges and obtain the subsidy from others. Interestingly, the results suggest that high schools that initially have higher college enrollments are more likely to participate in the program. Analysis of the decisions made by A+ eligible students shows those with lower educational achievements (GPA and ACT scores) are more likely to avail themselves of the financial incentives offered by the program.;A+ high schools have lower dropout rates than non-A + schools. A+ school graduates are more likely to enroll in Missouri 2-year public colleges, leading to significantly increased college enrollment rates. This increase in enrollment in 2-year public colleges is the result of behavioral changes in two types of students: those who would not have gone to college at all and those who would have gone to other types of post-secondary institutions. As a result, enrollment in 4-year public post-secondary institutions has decreased in the years following the designation.