Implementation and Impact of City Year within the Chicago Context

City Year provides services to schools to address the national dropout crisis wherein more than one million students from just 12 percent of U.S. schools drop out. City Year developed the Whole School/Whole Child (WSWC) service model, which places AmeriCorps “near-peer” members into classrooms of students from 3^rd to 9^th grade across the country.

Study Goals:

City Year partnered with Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago to document and evaluate the implementation of the City Year model. Specifically, the study was designed to describe the impact of the City Year model on academic, attendance, and behavioral outcomes of students.

Research Questions:

The study included both impact and implementation questions. The research questions were:

• Impact Questions:
  • Within City Year schools, do students on the academic and/or attendance focus lists show more improvement than similar students not on the focus lists?
  • Do students attending City Year schools show more improvement in outcomes than students attending similar non-City Year schools?
  • Do students likely to be on the focus list at City Year schools show more improvement than similar students attending non-City Year schools?
• Implementation Questions:
  • What are the core elements of City Year programming that should lead to improvements at the student, classroom, and school level? Are there missed opportunities for different types of services for different student age groups?
  • What are the core elements of City Year training and oversight, and how do these align with expected outcomes at the student, classroom, and school level?
  • What types of data does City Year collect and how are they used? How does this align with City Year’s stated goals and expected outcomes?
  • How do training materials reflect City Year goals and/or real practice? Where are there opportunities to improve these materials if City Year is to effectively train and oversee Corps Members for service in different types of schools?

Findings:

The study found the following:

• Focus list high school students attended 5.6 more days of school, on average.
• Focus list high school students increased one-half of a grade in math (C to C+), on average.
• The relationships that City Year Corps Members form with students and teachers is a fundamental aspect of the model that impacts success.
• There are significant opportunities to refine the model to improve implementation, training, and support to improve outcomes for students and the experiences of Corps Members.

For more information, download the full report.