We seek to accelerate organizational progress and continuous improvement by leading innovative research and evaluation work that advances ongoing learning, informs our practice and builds our evidence of impact.
Our goal is to effectively support students and adults who work in schools
Through our research and evaluation work, we aim to understand how to create learning environments and educational systems that improve academic outcomes by enabling all students to reach their full potential. We do so by exploring our outcomes on multiple levels:
our impact on systems, schools and students
the effectiveness of our practices
our impact on our AmeriCorps members and alumni and the communities we serve
The studies and reports highlighted below are produced by independent research organizations and researchers. Collectively, they cover a wide range of impact and implementation of City Year’s holistic services, demonstrate evidence of City Year’s impact in areas like supporting improvements on state tests, improving students’ interpersonal skills, reducing early warning indicators, such as chronic absenteeism, and shedding light on how to accelerate student success. Continue reading to learn more about City Year’s research journey and how we support the work of our partner organizations.
Supporting students’ holistic growth and development
Our most recent research aims to understand the relationships between students’ interpersonal development and academic outcomes. By understanding and exploring City Year’s effect in schools, we also aim to understand how our student success coach model can be replicated across a number of programs.
As a part of this work:
City Year partnered with International Futures (iF) to identify the key components of a K-12 student success coaching (SSC) program
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University conducted two analyses to understand the relationship between students academic outcomes and interpersonal skill development, and to explore City Year’s effect in schools.
Student Success Coach Target Program Profile
We believe that student success coaches are a key element in healthy school ecosystems and bring much needed additional capacity in schools. Learn more about how student success coaching helps further student learning and positive school environments.
Connecting Interpersonal Development, Academic Achievement and Student Outcomes
The Everyone Graduates Center analyzed City Year’s holistic approach, exploring the impact that student success coaches can have on students, classrooms and schools. The multi-year project found that additional capacity provided by AmeriCorps members leads to improved academic and attendance outcomes for students.
Our roadmap: City Year's research and learning agenda
City Year has developed a research and learning agenda to serve as a roadmap for our future research and learning. Our agenda, which is updated regularly, specifies the research questions that will guide City Year’s current and future projects, allowing us to continually improve our services.
Learnings during the pandemic
City Year sought to elevate the voices of those closest to the work—students, AmeriCorps members and teachers – to bring to life their extraordinary efforts to support student success. Learn more about the new challenges and opportunities presented to school communities in this critical phase of change and rebuilding in the face of school closures and shifts between virtual and hybrid learning environments.
Challenges and Opportunities: Student and practitioner experiences during COVID-19
AmeriCorps members serving as Student Success Coaches are invaluable partners to teachers as they work together to meet students’ shifting needs—a testament to the value of this strategically integrated additional capacity.
How a personalized approach to learning helped one organization quickly adapt in a global pandemic: A City Year Case Study
Funded by the Leon Lowenstein Foundation, City Year successfully responded to and adapted in-person services to distance learning and hybrid environments as school districts navigated the challenged of COVID-19.
“We hope to make explicit City Year’s commitment to conducting research that decenters the researcher and restores communities as authors and owners of the work.”
Research and Learning Agenda City Year
Research informs our unique approach to student success
