The Westinghouse Feeder Pattern University-Assisted Community Schools Project (Pitt Assisted Communities and Schools)
Dates: 01/2015 to 01/2018
Principal Investigator(s):
James Huguley, Ph.D.
John M. Wallace, Jr., Ph.D.
Funded by:
RK Mellon Foundation
The Just Discipline Project: Implementing Restorative and Relational Approaches to School Discipline in Urban Schools.
01/2016 to 01/2019
Principal Investigators:
James Huguley, Ph.D.
Ming-Te Wang, Ph.D.
Funded by:
The Heinz Endowments
The Homewood Children's Village, Phase 3: Implementation
Dates: 09/2011 to 08/2013
Principal Investigator: John M. Wallace, Jr., Ph.D.
Funded by: The Richard King Mellon Foundation
Description: The Homewood Children’s Village (HCV) is a comprehensive community-based participatory demonstration project whose mission is, “to simultaneously improve the lives of Homewood’s children and to reweave the fabric of the community in which they live.” Phase 3 of the HCV implementation has the following objectives: (1) partner with HCV to identify, review, and implement evidence-based programs to include in its “pipeline” of cradle-to-college programs; (2) work with HCV and Pittsburgh Public Schools to implement the full-service community school program that will provide health, mental health, dental, social services, and enrichment programs to children in the Homewood Early Childhood Center, Pittsburgh Faison K-5 and Pittsburgh Westinghouse; and (3) examine and report the data from the Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Pittsburgh Public Schools and Pittsburgh Neighborhood and Community Information System on the educational, social and mental health status of Homewood’s children and on neighborhood conditions that impact their well-being.
Potential Eligibility for the Pittsburgh Promise
Dates: 06/2008 to 05/2009
Principal Investigator(s):
Eric Ness,, Ph.D.
Larry E. Davis, Ph.D.
Ralph Bangs, Ph.D.
William Elliott III, Ph.D., MSW
Funded by:
The Pittsburgh Foundation
Description: The purpose of this study was to determine baseline numbers and percentages of Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) graduates and students by race (black and white), gender, and income who are potentially eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise college scholarship program. This study used different values for selected eligibility criteria (enrollment in PPS, residency in city, GPA, attendance, and graduation tests). PPS provided summary data for the project based on student records.
The data and report enabled The Pittsburgh Foundation and others to know how different eligibility criteria affect the inclusion or exclusion of graduates and students from the Pittsburgh Promise. This also allowed program costs to be better estimated and eligibility criteria to be chosen so that as many graduates and students as possible benefit from the Promise.
Parenting Matters? Examining the Value and Optimal Approaches of Family Engagement in Educating Students of Color
Dates: 01/2016 to 01/2020
Principal Investigator(s):
James Huguley, Ph.D.
Ming-Te Wang, Ph.D.
Funded by:
Spencer Foundation
Increasing Institutional Identification of College Students as a Means of Improving Retention
Dates: 09/2004 to 09/2007
Principal Investigator(s):
Janet Schofield, Ph.D.
Leslie Hausmann, Ph.D.
Rochelle Woods
Funded by: The Spencer Foundation, Sloan Foundation, and University of Pittsburgh Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies
Description: Retention of college students, especially African American students, is an issue of major concern in the U.S. This study tests the idea that increasing students’ sense of belonging to their university will increase their intended and actual persistence as students at that university. It also explores the impact of a wide variety of other variables on students’ intended and actual retention.
All African American (N=287) freshmen at a large predominantly white university were invited to participate in the first wave of a 3-wave survey and 62% did so. A similar number of their White peers (N=297) were randomly selected to participate, and 76% did so. All these students were invited to participate in two later waves of the survey. Most of both groups (over 90%) did so.
All participating students received surveys including measures of the variables of interest (e.g., sense of belonging, perceived campus racial climate, satisfaction with the university, study habits, intentions regarding their continued enrollment at the university, etc.) at the beginning, middle, and end of their freshman year. In addition, one third of these students were randomly assigned to a condition designed to enhance their sense of belonging to the university. Others were randomly assigned to one of two control conditions in equal numbers. With students’ permission, university records were used to gather information on each participant’s enrollment status at the end of their freshman and sophomore years as well as on additional background variables likely to influence retention, such as SAT scores.
An extensive set of MMC (multilevel model for change, a kind of HLM) analyses were conducted to test the contention that sense of belonging is related to students’ intentions to persist. These analyses led to the conclusion that sense of belonging does predict intentions to persist and that it can be influenced by interventions such as the one used here. Additional analyses are being conducted.
Forecasts for Alternative Designs for the Pittsburgh Promise
Dates: 06/2008 to 05/2009
Principal Investigator(s):
Eric Ness,, Ph.D.
Larry E. Davis, Ph.D.
Ralph Bangs, Ph.D.
William Elliott III, Ph.D., MSW
Funded by: The Falk Foundation
Description: The project estimated the effects of alternative design characteristics for the Pittsburgh Promise on outcomes by race and income level. The goals of this study were to help the community and leaders design the Promise so that (1) all socioeconomic groups of students have access to the scholarship, (2) Pittsburgh Public Schools’ enrollment and the population of the city of Pittsburgh increase, (3) public school student achievement improves, (4) college enrollment and completion increase, and (5) the Promise is as affordable as possible for donors. The project was able to forecast the outcomes of three basic designs for the Promise:
• The present merit-based Promise, with its last-dollar scholarship for selected public and private colleges and universities,
• A universal design for the Promise based on the Kalamazoo Promise, which applies to all high school graduates and has a sizeable scholarship for a large number of public colleges and universities, and
• A design which combines elements of the above options, with universal eligibility and a last-dollar, mid-sized scholarship ($7500) for a large number of public and private colleges and universities.
For each design we were able to forecast public school enrollment, high school graduation, college enrollment and completion, and student achievement (grades and test scores) by race, gender, and income. We also forecasted effects on city population and program costs. We used research on state and local Promise-type programs and recent data from Kalamazoo, Pittsburgh, and other state and local areas to forecast outcomes in Pittsburgh.
Link to Pittsburgh Promise Report >
Combined Program in Social Work and Education Student Support Grant
Dates: 01/2017 to 01/2019
Principal Investigator(s):
James Huguley, Ph.D.
John M. Wallace, Jr., Ph.D.
Funded by: Pittsburgh Foundation