What is Rewarding Achievement (REACH)?
Rewarding Achievement (REACH) (www.reachnyc.org),
a program of The Council of Urban Professionals (CUP) sponsored by The
Pershing Square Foundation, is an innovative pay-for-performance
initiative that aims to improve the college readiness of low-income
students, especially those from ethnic and racial groups that are
underrepresented in higher education. To encourage students to
enroll and excel in the most rigorous courses and to reward dynamism and
innovation in our schools, REACH will make substantial cash awards to
selected schools and their students, principals and assistant
principals, based primarily on the number of Advanced Placement exams
passed. (AP and Advanced Placement are registered trademarks of
the College Board, which is not affiliated with REACH.)
With $1 million in seed funding from The Pershing Square Foundation, CUP
has launched REACH in 31 New York City high schools, including six
parochial schools. At these schools, REACH will give students up
to $1,000 for each AP exam they pass and, for incremental passes,
matching awards to the participating schools.
Why is REACH necessary?
The number of low-income students – especially African-Americans and
Latinos – that attend and graduate from college is appallingly low.
Nationwide, approximately half of the children from households in the
bottom 25% of income drop out before finishing high school and only 6%
will ever receive a four-year college degree.
These vast educational inequalities result in broken lives, social
unrest and the United States falling further and further behind its
international competitors. It is the shame of our nation that
millions of our children, especially low-income children of color, are
not being given a fair shot at the American Dream, which is one of the
fundamental promises of this great country.
What are REACH’s goals?
REACH aims to address one small piece of this vast problem by helping
many more low-income students pass AP exams, which is a strong indicator
of academic achievement and increases a student’s odds of attending and
succeeding in college. Yet many low-income students do not benefit
from the advantages afforded by AP programs. In New York City, for
example, fewer than 1% of African-American public high school students
pass AP exams each year.
In its pilot program in New York City schools this year, REACH expects
that hundreds more low-income students will pass AP exams, thereby
improving their academic profiles to compete confidently for slots at
selective colleges and universities. Over time, REACH seeks to catalyze
a multi-fold increase in the number of AP exams taken and passed by
low-income students.
How will you measure success?
We will measure success based on AP exam results this school year, in
comparison to those last year, as measured by an increase in both the
number of students taking AP exams and in higher test scores on those
exams.
Over time, we will also track whether schools serving low-income student
populations add or enhance course offerings not only for AP classes, but
also the rigorous courses earlier in high school that prepare students
to take AP classes.
How does the REACH program work?
In the REACH program:
Finally, REACH has budgeted $100,000 for a Development Program to help up to 50 more high schools serving low-income students invest in their AP programs so that they can become part of REACH in future years. Ultimately, REACH hopes to be a model that can be replicated nationally.
How do you decide the amounts of the financial incentives?
We consulted with various experts to determine the amounts that would
provide the appropriate incentives for students. The amounts had
to be high enough to be competitive with money students might earn from
taking a job.
How were the 31 schools selected?
The New York City high schools selected for the program met four
criteria: a) low-income (at least 50% of students qualify for the free
or reduced lunch program); b) at least 15 AP exams taken; c) a pass rate
of at least 10%; and d) African-American and Latino students account for
at least 40% of the AP exams passed (for each of these criteria, foreign
language exams are excluded). All students at schools selected for
the program will be eligible for awards, regardless of income or
ethnicity. Schools that meet some but not all of these criteria
are candidates for REACH’s Development Program.
Which AP exams qualify for the REACH program?
All 37 AP exams qualify, with the exception of the six foreign language
exams. Specifically, the French Literature and Spanish Literature
exams are included in the REACH program, but the following are not:
Chinese Language and Culture, French Language, German Language, Italian
Language and Culture, Japanese Language and Culture, and Spanish
Language.
Will students earn REACH incentive payments for AP exams passed in previous years or for re-taking exams?
No, with one exception: for student who took AP exams in a previous
year and didn’t pass (i.e., received scores of 1 or 2), then they will
qualify for REACH incentive payments if they take the exam again and
pass.
Why are the foreign language exams excluded?
We want to make sure that our resources and efforts go towards fostering
success where it is most needed. Data shows that at the schools
REACH targets, nearly all students who pass such exams are native
speakers and thus their pass rate exceeds 93%, so we have decided to
focus on providing rewards for the AP courses that have lower success
rates.
Why are you funding AP programs specifically, as opposed to
other programs?
We are focusing on AP programs because taking and succeeding in AP
courses are a crucial predictor of a student’s likelihood of attending
and succeeding in college, and this is where we want to make a direct
impact. From an investment perspective, we are choosing to invest in AP
programs in particular because the potential for an immediate and
tangible return is high, and the tests offer a clear benchmark against
which to measure our success.
Why is REACH using a financial incentive model?
The pay-for-performance model is highly successful in the private
sector, and we are testing the hypothesis that it can also be successful
when applied to education. Furthermore, by providing financial
incentives, we can control where the funds are going and can easily
track and reward success. An additional benefit of the financial
incentive model is that it is easily scalable; we can keep growing the
program by increasing our funding and expanding to other schools.
What are REACH’s objectives in future years?
If the REACH program shows early signs of success, CUP and The
Pershing Square Foundation plan to roll it out quickly to other schools
in New York City and perhaps other cities. Ultimately, REACH hopes
to be a model that can be replicated nationally.
Why does the REACH program not include financial incentives for
teachers?
We decided not to do this in our first year pilot program because the
current teachers union contract does not have any mechanism for bonus
payments for teachers based on student performance. However, we are
evaluating this for our next phase.
Might REACH be negatively impacted by not having incentives for teachers, who are critical to whether students pass AP exams?
We believe that AP teachers will benefit from the REACH program in two
primary ways. First, the incentives should result in more engaged and
committed students and more supportive principals and assistant
principals. Secondly, and more importantly, we anticipate that much of
the money we give schools (both the up-front $2,000 and Innovation
Grants, as well as the end-of-year matching grants) will be invested,
directly and indirectly, in AP teachers. For example, the funds might
be used to hire more AP teachers, send teachers for additional training
and conferences and perhaps even to pay AP teachers for extra hours
they work teaching extra help and enrichment sessions.
Might monetary incentives pervert the ideal of education and demotivate
students since now they're studying for money rather than the joy of
learning?
We don't think so – in fact, we believe that rewarding hard work and high achievement will result in even higher motivation. These students are not children – most are savvy young adults, about to go off to college, and have held jobs and know what it’s like to earn money in exchange for hard work. But almost all of them are poor and thus don’t have the same opportunities and resources that most other students do. They have very real and pressing financial needs to, for example, pay for college visits and applications, books, class trips and the senior prom, so in many cases they are forced to make a choice no student should have to make: between committing to their studies or taking a job (usually a low-paying, dead-end one).
REACH seeks to level the playing field and help ease the students’ financial burdens so they can make an important investment in their future, which is tremendously exciting and motivating. To see students’ enthusiastic reactions to the REACH program, click here to go to the web page for the REACH launch event and watch some of the videos, and click here to read what students and others are saying about REACH.
Who created and operates the REACH program?
REACH is an education reform initiative of The Council of Urban
Professionals and is sponsored by The Pershing Square Foundation, which
made a $1 million grant to launch the program. The Council of
Urban Professionals (www.nycup.org)
is a New York-based nonprofit organization whose members are primarily
minority professionals. CUP’s mission is to advance the agenda of
urban professionals and their communities with a special emphasis on
increased business opportunities, economic development, leadership
development and education reform. CUP is particularly motivated to
improve educational opportunities for young people, especially
low-income African-American and Latino children. The Pershing
Square Foundation is affiliated with Pershing Square Capital Management,
a New York City-based investment firm. REACH is the brainchild of
CUP board member and education reformer Whitney Tilson, who is an
advisor to The Pershing Square Foundation.
Is REACH a New York City Department of Education (DOE) program?
No. REACH is a program created and administered independently by the
Council of Urban Professionals and is privately funded.
What do REACH’s sponsors know about low-income and minority
communities?
Nearly all of the members of the Council of Urban Professionals are
minorities themselves and know well the academic and other challenges
that low-income, minority students face – and the need for new and
innovative approaches to address these challenges. In addition,
unlike traditional philanthropic programs, REACH does not require that
participating schools follow a particular educational model.
Instead, REACH sets an audacious goal – increasing the number of high
school students who are doing college-level work – and encourages
students, educators and schools to innovate in pursuit of that goal.
Then, REACH rewards success and evaluates how it’s achieved so that best
practices can be identified and disseminated.
Which schools have been selected to participate in the program?
REACH has selected 31
high schools in New York City to participate in its first-year pilot
program: 25 public schools and six parochial schools. The list of
schools is posted at: http://www.reachnyc.org/Documents/REACH_Schools.pdf.
How do you decide the amounts of the financial incentives?
We
consulted with various experts to determine the amounts that would
provide the appropriate incentives for students. The amounts had to be
high enough to be competitive with money students might earn from
taking a job.