High School Puente Program. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2012-04-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: High School Students,Disadvantaged Youth,Adolescents,Literacy,Intervention,College Preparation,School Counseling,Mentors,English Instruction,Writing Instruction,Grade 9,Grade 10,Educational Research,Program Effectiveness

The &quot;High School Puente Program&quot; aims to help disadvantaged students graduate from high school, become college eligible, and enroll in four-year colleges and universities. Interdisciplinary in approach, the program has three components: writing, counseling, and mentoring. Students in the ninth and tenth grades receive rigorous writing practice through college preparatory English classes. The curriculum includes Mexican-American/Latino and other multicultural literature. The counseling component of the &quot;High School Puente Program&quot; guides students in identifying career goals, developing short- and long-term education plans, and applying to four-year colleges. The mentoring component provides student leadership opportunities and structured mentoring activities with volunteers from the local community. The &quot;High School Puente Program&quot; is open to all students but is targeted to students from populations with low rates of enrollment at four-year colleges. Students are identified for the program at the end of eighth grade through an application and selection process. Each &quot;High School Puente&quot; site has an assigned academic counselor and an English teacher. These team members receive intensive initial training in program methodologies, along with ongoing training and support. In addition to &quot;High School Puente&quot;, the Puente Program has a community college program model that does not fall within the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Adolescent Literacy review protocol. The WWC identified 27 studies of the High School Puente Program for adolescent learners that were published or released between 1989 and 2011. One study is within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol but does not meet WWC evidence standards. This study uses a quasi-experimental design but does not establish that the comparison group was comparable to the treatment group prior to the start of the intervention. Eight studies are out of the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol because they have an ineligible study design. Five studies do not use a comparison group design. Three studies are literature reviews or meta-analyses. Eighteen studies are out of the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol for reasons other than study design. Fourteen studies do not include students in grades 4-12. Three studies do not include an eligible literacy outcome. One study uses a sample that does not include at least 50% general education students. No studies of the High School Puente Program that fall within the scope of the Adolescent Literacy review protocol meet What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) evidence standards. The lack of studies meeting WWC evidence standards means that, at this time, the WWC is unable to draw any conclusions based on research about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the High School Puente Program on adolescent readers. Additional research is needed to determine the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of this intervention. A glossary of terms is included. (Contains 2 endnotes and 4 additional sources.)