Onward We Learn is a high-performing, data-driven organization that is committed to monitoring the effectiveness of its college readiness and persistence programs through multiple measures. Please explore the links below for more details about our impact.
2020 Annual Report Card
Our Annual Report Card describes how we are doing in our mission to increase educational and career success for youth in Rhode Island’s low-income urban communities.
Current Research
Estimates of the Impact of Participating in the Rhode Island GEAR UP Program for Gender/Race-Ethnicity Subgroups of Crusaders, 2007-08 to 2012-13 Sixth Grade Cohorts Combined.
This 2021 study by Neeta Fogg, Paul Harrington and Ishwar Khatiwada of the Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University measures the impact of program participation on key outcomes – on-time Grade 12 attainment, on-time high school graduation, and immediate college enrollment – among gender and race/ethnicity subgroups of our students.
Impact of the Rhode Island GEAR UP Program on Educational Outcomes of a Pooled Group of Participants from the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 Sixth Grade Cohorts.
This 2017 study by Paul Harrington, Neeta Fogg and Laura Kroll of the Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University reports on participation intensity in our programs and services among the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 sixth-grade cohorts of student and shows that it is closely and positively related to educational outcomes. Students with the most intensive participation in our programs and services were considerably more likely than those with less intensive participation to progress on time through each grade in middle and high school, graduate high school on time, and enroll in college upon graduating high school.
Evidence-Based Research: The Impact of the GEAR UP Program in RI
This article in the New England Journal of Higher Education reports on the initial results of a quasi-experimental 2015 study by Paul Harrington and Neeta Fogg of the Center for Labor Markets and Policy at Drexel University that shows the large positive effects our programs are having on high school graduation and college-going rates for Crusaders in relation to a carefully matched comparison group of their peers from urban schools. Quasi-experimental studies are considered the gold standard for evaluating educational programs.
To read the report, click here.
To view Infographics summarizing some of the report data, click here.
For our 2022 Annual Report, click here.