Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Kansas State University Office of Educational Innovation and Evaluation. (2017). Butler Community College TAACCCT final evaluation report. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University.
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of the Butler Community College Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant on education, earnings, and employment outcomes.
- The study used a nonexperimental design to compare the outcomes of students who were in the Butler TAACCCT Information Technology (IT) program to a comparison group.
- The study found that students in the Butler TAACCCT IT program were significantly more likely to complete their program, be retained in their program, and earn credentials than their counterparts in other selected Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the author did not ensure that the groups being compared were similar before the intervention or include sufficient controls. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the Butler TAACCCT IT program; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
The Butler Community College TAACCCT Project
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.
Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas received a TAACCCT grant to increase the number of students with credentials in the Information Technology (IT) field. Butler created the Butler IT Institute and created a core set of courses for IT students to develop their skills and knowledge. The program was designed to target TAA-eligible, veterans, and other dislocated workers. The project also integrated academic and employment supportive services for students and developed IT-related degrees, credentials, and certifications in Cyber Security, Database Administration, Digital Media, Interactive & 3D Technologies, Internetworking Management, Software Development, Web Development, and Windows Administration.
Features of the Study
The study used a nonexperimental design to determine the impact of the Butler Community College TAACCCT IT program on education, earnings, and employment outcomes. The treatment group consisted of 657 students taking TAACCCT IT program courses between 2013 and 2010, while the comparison group consisted of 88 students taking courses in the CTE degree tracks of Engineering Graphics Technology, Composite Engineering Technology, Marketing and Management, and Welding during the same time. Using data from Butler College's administrative records, the authors compared the differences in the proportion of students who achieved education, earnings, and employment outcomes between the treatment and comparison groups.
Findings
Education and skills gain
- The study found that students who participated in the Butler TAACCCT IT program were significantly more likely than comparison group students to complete a program of study (23.0% vs. 4.5%, respectively), be retained in a program of study (29.2% vs. 4.5%), and earn credentials (23.0% vs. 4.5%).
- The study found no statistically significant relationships between participation in the Butler TAACCCT IT program and credit hour completion or the likelihood of pursuing further education.
Earnings and wages
- The study found no statistically significant relationship between participation in the Butler TAACCCT IT program and a wage increase post-enrollment, for students who were employed at the beginning of the program.
Employment
- The study found no statistically significant relationships between participation in the Butler TAACCCT IT program and the likelihood of being employed or retaining employment upon program completion.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors do not establish whether the treatment and comparison groups are significantly different at baseline. They provide information indicating there may be differences in characteristics such as average age, race, incumbent worker status, part-time status, and other demographic variables, but do not report whether these variations are statistically significant. Also, the authors did not control for any baseline differences as they used chi-square analyses. These preexisting differences between the groups—and not the TAACCCT IT program—could explain the observed differences in outcomes. 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 or include sufficient controls. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the Butler TAACCCT IT program; other factors are likely to have contributed.