1. Research and Public School Partnerships:
Razor C.O.A.C.H Program
Arie Greenleaf, Counseling
Gary Ritter, Education Policy
Co-Principal Investigators Razor C.O.A.C.H Program

2. Our Discussion What is the Razor C.O.A.C.H. Program Collaboration?
How is the program implemented and evaluated?
What are the Razor Coaches doing in our schools?
Our Discussion

3. Collaboration between NWAC, COEHP, and local public schools.
Funded at $1.5M over 3 years, this program aims to serve at-risk high school students in Washington and Benton Counties.
MA students in counseling from the U of A COEHP mentor at-risk students on a weekly basis.
Razor C.O.A.C.H. Program
Creating Opportunities for Arkansans’ Career Hopes
The Program

4. Leadership Team Razor C.O.A.C.H. Program - Collaboration
Dr. Kristin Higgins – Principal Investigator/Project Coordinator
Dr. Dan Kissinger – Co-Principal Investigator/Training Coordinator
Dr. Arie Greenleaf – Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Gary Ritter – Co-Principal Investigator/Coordinator of Evaluation
Josh Raney – Program Director
Leadership Team

5. Implementation and Evaluation
Higher demand than anticipated
Big 5 districts 51% FRL and 15% dropout rate (Rural % and 12%)
Smaller than average but in a district of 15,000 students, 300 students from each cohort will dropout
Evaluation
Coaches can serve 20-30
Estimated slots 25*15 = 375
Initial applications (targeted 1700, apps to 1400, returned 640)
Random assignment 56%)
Implementation and Evaluation

6. Student Recruitment Challenges
Want widest possible targets for recruitment, yet can’t serve all
Need consent forms early on in hectic time
Signing up for unknown
Difficult to get students to agree to additional supervised time – not really fun!
Reluctance with RA
Schools of varying sizes .. Not one coach per school
Student Recruitment

7. Total Applications Collected = 643 in 16 high schools
… minus Wildcards and Sibling Exclusions = 40
Final Analytic Sample = 603 in 16 high schools
Participant Students = 321 (53%)
Control Students = 281 (47%)
Evaluation Sample –

8. Outcomes for Evaluation
Measures of Student Success
High School GPA
Absences
Application for Financial Aid
Application to Post-Secondary Education
ACT Participation and Performance
Graduation Rates/Promotion to the Next Grade
Attendance at Post-Secondary Education
Some data collected from Students with surveys
Other data collected from School Administrators
Outcomes for Evaluation

9. Example Outcome Figure
Figure x: Summary of Coaching Impact
(I acknowledge that this chart is awful – feel free to mess around with it)
Example Outcome Figure

10. Who are Coaches? What will they Do?
15 MA students in Counseling (prestigious fellowships)
Applied from various backgrounds from across the country
Most have worked in schools (TFA, counselors, teachers)
Will help HS students with:
Checking up on academic work
On track toward promotion and graduation
Answer questions about college prep, finances, etc.
Answer questions about other post-secondary options
Caring/Interested adult …. And … information broker
Who are Coaches? What will they Do?

11. Other Affective Outcomes
Students get to see the benefits of college through their coach
Coaches serve as good role models for students
Students will be more comfortable and more likely to relate with coaches given their age
Other Affective Outcomes

12. Day-to-day work of Coaches
Social cognitive career theory (SCCT): theoretical basis for new career coaching model
Components of SCCT model:
Academic self-efficacy
Outcome expectations
Perceived barriers/resources
S.M.A.R.T goals
Day-to-day work of Coaches

13. More post secondary options
Outcome Expectations
More post secondary options
Self-Efficacy
Continued practice of beneficial behavior in college/career
What do you all think about this???
Perceived Supports
Perceived Barriers
More resiliency

14. Academic Self-Efficacy Scale

15. Outcome Expectancies Scale

16. Perceived Barriers Scale

17. SMART Goals
Transition from discussion of Self-Efficacy and Outcome expectations into encouraging students to set goals and helping them do so with this "formula“:
Break down the Overall goal into more managable steps
Acknowledge the Barriers that they will have to overcome
Identify the Motivations that will keep the student working towards their goal
Accountability partners

18. Roleplay/Case Study
Low Self-efficacy: Balancing schoolwork with home responsibilities, focusing in class, distractions affect studying
High Self-efficacy-feels confident in breaking down large assignments into smaller one, strong motivation, confident in talking to someone working in her desired occupation.
Outcome Expectancy-believes when motivated you can accomplish more, studying is beneficial, gpa will affect how she performs in her career
Perceived/Real Barriers: Time Barriers, focus on time management, not having a place to study, transportation barrier
What should we work on?
Supports, goals, motivational factors, bridges to perceived barriers

19. Research and Public School Partnerships:
Razor C.O.A.C.H Program
THANK YOU!