Absence of conflict of interest.
Citation
Mittapalli, K., Keyes, D., Banerjee, A. & de las Alas, N. (2017). Ozarks Technical Community College Technology-Enabled Pathways to Healthcare (TEPH): Department of Labor TAACCCCT Round III grant final evaluation report. MN Associates.
Highlights
- The study’s objective was to examine the impact of the Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) grant on student’s education and earnings outcomes.
- The study used a nonexperimental design to compare the outcomes of students who were in the TAACCCT-enhanced Technology-Enabled Pathways to Healthcare (TEPH) to a comparison group of Biology students. Using the OTC database of administrative and student records, the authors conducted statistical models to examine differences between the groups.
- The study did not report statistical significance on the education and earnings outcomes of treatment versus comparison group students.
- The quality of causal evidence presented in this report is low because the authors did not use sufficient controls in their analysis. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the OTC TEPH TAACCCT program; other factors are likely to have contributed.
Intervention Examined
Technology-Enabled Pathways to Healthcare (TEPH) TAACCCT grant
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. In 2013, Ozarks Technical Community College (OTC) received a federal TAACCCT grant to increase the number of students with credentials in the healthcare field. The program was designed to target TAA-eligible workers and other adults. The Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN), Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA), and Environmental Science Technician (EST) programs transitioned from face-to-face instruction to a hybrid model of online instruction and in-person training. The treatment also consisted of a competency-based evaluation and Career Navigators, who holistically and intensively advised students and anticipated their needs.
Features of the Study
The nonexperimental study was conducted at the campus location in Springfield, Missouri. The authors matched TEPH participating students to similar non-participating students in Biology classes using propensity scores developed from demographic and education data. Study participants included: 113 students in the EST program and 113 matched comparison students; 62 students in the ASN program and 62 matched comparison students; and 62 students in the OTA program and 62 matched comparison students. Outcomes included student completion rates, credit hours, time to degree completion, and wages. Using the OTC database of administrative and student records, the authors examined differences in the outcomes between treatment and comparison groups. However, they did not report tests of significance.
Findings
Education and skills gain
- The study found that TEPH EST program participation was associated with higher completion rates (73% vs. 3%), more credit hours completed (45 vs. 25 hours), and a shorter time to degree completion (12 vs. 17 months) relative to the comparison group.
- However, the study found that TEPH ASN program participation was associated with lower completion rates (58% vs. 95%), fewer credit hours completed (92 vs. 102 hours), and a longer time to degree completion (11 vs. 10 months) relative to the comparison group.
- The study also found that TEPH OTA program participation was associated with lower completion rates (55% vs. 72%), more credit hours (72 vs. 60 hours), and a longer time to degree completion (18 vs. 10 months) relative to the comparison group.
Earnings and wages
- The study found a relationship between the TEPH program participation and post-completion median annual wage gains, with EST participants having higher median annual wage increases than the comparison group, but ASN and OTA participants having lower median annual wage increases.
Considerations for Interpreting the Findings
The authors used matching to ensure students in the research groups were similar in terms of baseline demographic characteristics. They found that the composition of the treatment and comparison groups varied by pre-intervention degree of financial disadvantage but did not control for it in the analyses. These preexisting differences between the groups—and not the OTC TEPH TAACCCT program—could explain the observed differences in outcomes. Moreover, because participants in the treatment and comparison groups were enrolled in different programs, differences in outcomes could be due to varying factors in the programs of study (such as required coursework) and not the OTC TEPH TAACCCT program. 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 use sufficient controls in their analysis. This means we are not confident that the estimated effects are attributable to the OTC TEPH TAACCCT program; other factors are likely to have contributed.