Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Patnaik, A., & Prince, A. (2016). Retraining the Gulf Coast through Information Technology Pathways: Final Impact evaluation report. Austin, TX: The University of Texas at Austin, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of the Retraining the Gulf Coast Workforce through Information Technology Pathways Consortium (Gulf Coast IT Pathways) grant program on education outcomes.
- Using a nonexperimental design with institutional data from the college systems, the study authors compared students in the program to a matched historical cohort comparison group.
- The study found that the Gulf Coast IT Pathways program was significantly related to higher credential, certificate, or a degree attainment and higher credit hour accumulation.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the authors did not ensure that the groups being compared were similar before the intervention. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the Gulf Coast IT Pathways TAACCCT; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
The Gulf Coast IT Pathways Program
Features of the Intervention
The U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) program provided $1.9 billion in grants to community colleges to improve skills and support employment in high-demand industries, notably manufacturing, health care, information technology, energy, and transportation. Through four rounds of funding, DOL awarded 256 TAACCCT grants to approximately 800 educational institutions across the United States and its territories.
The Retraining the Gulf Coast Workforce through Information Technology Pathways Consortium was funded by a four-year TAACCCT grant. Funded in 2012, the Consortium of nine colleges across Louisiana and Mississippi was led by Bossier Parish Community College. The project was designed to meet a workforce demand for skilled workers in Information Technology (IT), and specifically in cyber security, health information technology, and industrial information IT. The program's objective was to target TAA eligible workers, veterans, and others who require basic skills training for jobs. The project included the following five career pathways strategies: an evidence-based, integrated career pathway in IT; a continuum of completion for stacking credentials; integrated hybrid and online learning models; integrated transferrable/portable credentials with degree articulation; and programs in alignment with partners to meet the needs of the IT workforce.
Features of the Study
The study used a nonexperimental design to compared students in the Gulf Coast IT Pathways program to a matched historical comparison group. The participants in the treatment group attended and participated in the program at one of the nine community colleges in the first 3 years of the grant program. The comparison group included students who were enrolled in similar programs in the year prior to program implementation. The authors matched Gulf Coast IT Pathways program participants to similar nonparticipants using propensity scores developed from demographic characteristics. The treatment group included 1,774 participants, and the comparison group included 5,017 participants. Using institutional research data systems at each of the colleges in the consortium, the authors conducted statistical tests to examine differences in outcomes between the groups.
Study Sites
- South Louisiana Community College in Lafayette, Louisiana
- Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City, Louisiana
- Delgado Community College in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Louisiana Delta Community College in Monroe, Louisiana
- Copiah-Lincoln Community College in Wesson, Mississippi
- Mississippi Delta Community College in Moorhead, Mississippi
- Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi
- Meridian Community College in Meridian, Mississippi
- Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, Mississippi
Findings
Education and skills gain
- The study found that participation in the Gulf Coast IT Pathways program was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of credit hour accumulation, with the treatment group accumulating more credit hours (12 credits) versus the comparison group (11.3 credits).
- The study also found that participation in the Gulf Coast IT Pathways program was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of credential, certificate, or a degree attainment. Relative to the comparison group, higher proportions of treatment students earned a credential (26% vs. 18%), a certificate (18% vs. 11%), or a degree (14% vs. 9%).
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors did not account for other factors that could have affected the difference between the treatment and comparison groups such as a pre-intervention measure of the degree of financial disadvantage and a pre-intervention measure of education. The study also uses a historical comparison group to the year prior to the intervention and external, unobserved factors may have contributed to the findings. Therefore, the study is not eligible for a moderate causal evidence rating, the highest rating available for nonexperimental designs.
Causal Evidence Rating
The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the authors did not ensure that the groups being compared were similar before the intervention. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the Gulf Coast IT Pathways TAACCCT; other factors are likely to have contributed.