The Boston Foundation

Founded in 1915, the Boston Foundation serves as one of the nation’s oldest and largest community foundations. Part of the Foundation’s agenda is to commission public research related to a range of challenges facing Greater Boston and the region with the aspiration of ultimately contributing to the development of public policy.

The Boston Foundation partnered with CLMS on a number of projects, notably Success Boston which was launched in 2008. The Success Boston College Completion Initiative (or simply, Success Boston) followed a longitudinal study by the Center for Labor Market Studies that was commissioned by the Boston Private Industry Council and the Boston Foundation. This study revealed that former Boston Public High School graduates had a low completion rate for Boston area colleges and universities.

Visit The Boston Foundation's website for more information about the organization.

The Effectiveness of Success Boston

Various research explored the effectiveness of Success Boston through analyzing differences in graduation rates between race and gender, and predicting college retention (within 1 and 2 years) based on standardized test scores (ex. MCAS), work experiences during college, and scholarships/grants received.  For example, on-campus employment was associated with higher level of student engagement and higher grades among 4 year college students, though nuances between on and off campus work, and 4 year versus 2 year versus vocational college programs can also influence the correlation between work and college retention.  Such research on the type of college program and whether scholarships were received also influenced the likelihood of on campus work (versus off campus work), both of which held different implications (for example, off campus work may include internships, service industry work etc. while on campus work often defaulted to work study positions).  Success Boston’s work and research on these topics helped understand college retention, especially by supporting and encouraging aspects such as work experiences and scholarships application.

Descriptive Statistics on the Background Characteristics of Success Boston Participants and Comparison Group Members, the Definitions of the Variables Appearing in the Regression Models of College Persistence, and the Findings of the Regression Models of College Persistence
The College Persistence Rates of BPS Class of 2009 Participants in the Success Boston Program and Comparisons with the Experiences of BPS Graduates from Matched Colleges and Demographic Traits
A Proposal for Conducting Research on College Outcomes for Success Boston Participants from the Classes of 2009 and 2010, the College Graduation Experiences of BPS High School Graduates from the Classes of 2006 to 2008, and the College Enrollment and Graduation Experiences of Hispanic and Black Male BPS Graduates
Tracking Gender Disparities in College Enrollment and Persistence Among Boston Public School Graduates from the Class of 2009: Variations in Gender Disparities Across Race/Ethnic Lines
The Reading and Math Proficiencies of BPS Graduates from the Class of 2009 and Their Impacts on Their College Enrollment and Persistence Behaviors
The In-College Work Experiences of Boston Public School Graduates from the Class of 2009: Who Worked, What Types of Jobs Did They Hold, and the Effects of Work on College Persistence
Tracking the College Enrollment and Graduation Experiences of Boston Public School Graduates From the Class of 2003 Through December 2010: A Final Update On Their Graduation Outcomes With Comparisons to the Class of 2000
The College Persistence and Graduation Experiences of Success Boston Coaching Participants from the BPS Graduating Class of 2009
The Scholarship and Grant Recipiency Status of College Enrolled Graduates from the Class of 2009: Who Gets It, What Factors Influence the Probability of Receiving It, and Its Impacts on College Persistence
High School Graduation Outcomes and College Enrollment Plans of Class of 2009 High School Students by Gender in The City of Boston and Selected Large Urban and Affluent School Districts Across the State of Massachusetts
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Analyzing Poverty in Boston

The Boston Foundation also partnered with CLMS to research the effects of poverty in the city.