What’s Getting In the Way?: New Study Highlights the Barriers to Effectiveness of City Year for Middle Schoolers

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Berg, J., Osher, D., Hubbard, D., Pardo, M., Somers, M.-A., & Haider, Z. (2024). A randomized controlled trial of the City Year Whole School Whole Child model’s Tier 2 services in five urban school districts. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness.

Introduction

The City Year WSWC model is a holistic approach designed to foster both academic achievement and social-emotional learning (SEL) by providing targeted support through near-peer Student Success Coaches (SSCs). As evidence on the effectiveness of multicomponent, tiered interventions like WSWC remains limited, Berg and colleagues (2024) conducted a randomized controlled trial of City Year in five school districts.

Methods

This study was conducted from 2018-2022 across 22 middle schools in five urban districts, and included 1,755 sixth-grade students. These students were randomly assigned to receive Tier 2 services or to a control group that did not receive these services.

Fidelity was evaluated through program monitoring data, surveys of SSCs and school staff, and site visits in select districts. Outcome measures included standardized test scores, Math and English Language Arts grades, attendance records, and a student-administered SEL (self-awareness and self-management) survey.

Results

Interestingly, yhe study found no statistically significant impact of Tier 2 services on math and ELA achievement, attendance, SEL competencies, or suspension rates. Despite high implementation fidelity in most schools during the first year of the study (2018–2019), the overall effectiveness of the Tier 2 services appeared limited.

Barriers to effectiveness included challenges in delivery of non-academic supports (e.g., SEL and attendance coaching), and high turnover among SSCs.

Discussion

The findings highlight the complexities of implementing and evaluating tiered interventions in real-world school settings. While the City Year WSWC model aims to provide personalized, relationship-based support to at-risk students, this study suggests that such interventions may face challenges in translating into measurable academic or behavioral improvements over a relatively short time frame.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

  • Longer-term engagement: Mentoring programs may need to focus on strategies to promote sustained, longer-term support.
  • Mentor training: SSCs expressed a need for more targeted training on how to deliver SEL and behavior interventions. Mentoring programs should prioritize professional development to equip mentors with the skills needed to support students facing complex challenges.
  • Flexibility in delivery: Scheduling and logistical challenges hindered the consistent delivery of Tier 2 services. Mentoring programs should explore more flexible models that allow for greater adaptability in delivering services within the school day.

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