Model & Strategy
A Student Success Network is made up of all the components that create an environment that enables a student to succeed in school and life. SSA partners with school districts to develop a web of digital support services, which preserve class time and all staff members to power-up their impact on students. SSA channels their impact through a blended software and service approach by offering a sophisticated state-of-the-art DSS platform which is fueled by a digital infrastructure of mentors, tutors, and advisers.
Our Impact
Vela evaluated the link between student engagement with SSA and student persistence in higher education
Summary
To understand and better assess the breadth of impact, SSA requested analysis of participant engagement and persistence in higher education. SSA provided thousands of participant contact records describing the type and duration of interaction between mentor and mentee. This data was combined with post-secondary enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse.
This project examined a convenience sample of 788 students who had shown an initial interest in engaging with SSA, graduated in 2017, and for whom SSA had information about the students’ postsecondary enrollment (PSE). The overall goal of the project was to determine the relationship between SSA engagement and post-secondary persistence.
Given the observational nature of the data, the lack of demographic student data to use as control, and the correlational methods used to generate the results, the results presented demonstrate the nature and strength of the relationship between the SSA program and college persistence but do not demonstrate causation.
However, the association between SSA program usage and PSE can begin to be established using the current project’s data and will provide empirical support for the link between SSA engagement and college persistence.
Insight: While both Engaged Students and Disengaged Students preferred texting, Engaged Students were in more frequent contact with SSA
Insight: Students who interacted most with SSA were more likely to persist in higher education
