Citation
Maxfield, M., Castner, L., Maralani, V., & Vencill, M. (2003). The Quantum Opportunity Program Demonstration: Implementation findings. Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research.
Highlights
- The objective of this report was to assess how the implementation of the Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP) at seven demonstration sites compared with the program model. QOP provided case management and mentoring, education, developmental activities, community service, supportive services, and financial incentives to at-risk students entering 9th grade.
- The demonstration was conducted from 1995 through 2001. The authors conducted site visits during each year of the demonstration as well as periodic telephone calls with staff at each site.
- The authors reported that the QOP model proved difficult to replicate; two sites “deviated substantially” and the other five “deviated moderately” from the program model, according to the study’s authors. All sites implemented the case management, mentoring, and developmental activities components of the model, but few implemented the community service component and none successfully implemented the education component.
- QOP did meet its goal of enrolling a representative sample of disadvantaged youth, and not solely the most motivated. QOP-enrolled students, on average, spent 174 hours in QOP-related activities, falling short of the goal of 750 hours per student. For the five-year program, the average cost per enrollee was $25,000.
Intervention Examined
Quantum Opportunities Program (QOP)
Reviewed by CLEAR
August 2014