Making the Most of The Pittsburgh Promise: Findings from Two Research Projects

As GWP members know, The Pittsburgh Promise awarded its first scholarships to graduates of Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) in 2008.   Starting with that first cohort of graduates, the Promise has worked with the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center to monitor indicators of the Promise scholars’ progress, including postsecondary enrollment, persistence, and degree attainment.   

As the number of Promise scholars grew, the Pittsburgh Promise and its research partners at Pitt recognized several opportunities to make more data-informed decisions about the policies and practices that best help PPS graduates to achieve their postsecondary goals.   At this GWP session, we will learn about two related strands of research that have shaped the understanding of the Pittsburgh Promise and the support systems needed to prepare students to use the scholarships.

• The first research effort, supported by the Benter Foundation, explored how PPS graduates match to postsecondary institutions, the extent to which the Promise has influenced students’ decisions, and the supports available within PPS to help students and families make appropriate choices 

• The second research project, supported by the Lumina Foundation, focuses on the impact of place-based scholarship programs like the Pittsburgh Promise, both at the level of each individual programs and across a network of five similar efforts across the U.S.

At this session, we will hear about the research findings and consider next steps for evaluating the impact of the Pittsburgh Promise on postsecondary outcomes.  We will also learn about the impact of the Promise on preK-12 educational outcomes such as AP course taking. This is your opportunity to hear the latest on research-based solutions to improved postsecondary outcomes, in Pittsburgh and elsewhere. 

Joining us during this roundtable to describe these research projects and their implications will be the research team and project funders:

• Dr. Jennifer Iriti, University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center
• Dr. Lindsay Page, University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center
• Saleem Ghubril, Executive Director, The Pittsburgh Promise
• Kathleen Buechel, Executive Director of the Benter Foundation
• Haley Glover, Strategy Director at Lumina Foundation

*This will be a brownbag meeting, so feel free to bring a lunch.  Drinks and cookies will be provided.