Results & Impact

City Connects increases a student's chance for success, while they are in a City Connects school and throughout their lives.

Long-Term Positive Impact

School Readiness

City Connects students demonstrate higher school readiness scores than students in comparison schools.

Report Card Grades

City Connects students achieve better report card scores in math, reading, behavior, work habits, and effort.

Standardized Test Scores

City Connects students outperform their peers on standardized test scores.

Statewide tests

Former City Connects students narrow up to 2/3rds of the achievement gap.

Grade Retention

Former City Connects students have lower rates of being held back in grade through grade 12.

School Attendance

Former City Connects students are significantly less likely to be chronically absent.

Post-Secondary Admission

Former City Connects students are more likely to enroll in and complete post-secondary education.

Statewide Tests

Former City Connects students achieve Advanced or Proficient scores on grade 10 statewide tests in both English Language Arts and Math at a much higher rate.

Dropout Rate

Former City Connects students have a dropout rate that is approximately half that of students who never experienced City Connects.

Key Findings

Publications

City Connects (2022). The Impact of City Connects-Progress Report 2022, City Connects, Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2022). Responding to Covid-19 - The Impact of City Connects During the Covid-19 Pandemic.  Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2022). City Connects In the Community College Setting: The SCC Pilot. Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2020). City Connects: Progress Report 2020, City Connects, Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2018). City Connects: Intervention and Impact Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2016). The Impact of City Connects: Student Outcomes. Progress Report 2016. Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2014). The Impact of City Connects: Progress Report 2014. Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2012). The Impact of City Connects: Progress Report 2012. Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

City Connects (2010). The Impact of City Connects: Annual Report 2010. Mary E. Walsh Center for Thriving Children, Boston College.

The Impact of City Connects on Select Student Sub-Groups (2023). Chestnut Hill, MA: Center for Thriving Children.

The Impact of City Connects on Teachers and Schools (2023). Chestnut Hill, MA: Center for Thriving Children.

Mary E. Walsh, Ph.D., et al. (2017). Reducing High School Dropout through Elementary School Student Support: An Analysis Including Important Student Subgroups. Chestnut Hill, MA: Center for Thriving Children.

Mary E. Walsh, Ph.D., Joan Wasser Gish, J.D., M.A., Claire Foley, Ph.D., Maria Theodorakakis, M.A., Kirsten Rene, M.A. (2016). Principles of Effective Practice for Integrated Student Support. Chestnut Hill, MA: Center for Thriving Children.

Foley, C., Theodorakakis, M., Walsh, M. E., DiNatale, P., & Raczek, A. (2015). Building a sustainable intervention to address the out-of-school factors affecting achievement: A primer and case study. Chestnut Hill, MA: Center for Thriving Children.

Long-term effects of integrated student support: An evaluation of an elementary school intervention on postsecondary enrollment and completion. Pollack, C., Lawson, J., Raczek, A. E., Dearing, E., Walsh, M., Kaufman, G. (Preprint). 

The Long-Term Impact of Systemic Student Support in Elementary School: Reducing High School Dropout. AERA OPEN, Oct 2018. Terrence J. Lee-St. John, Mary E. Walsh, Anastasia E. Raczek, Caroline E. Vuilleumier, Claire Foley, Amy Heberle, Erin Sibley, Eric Dearing

Examining Estimates of Intervention Effectiveness Using Sensitivity Analysis. Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Summer 2018. Chen An, Henry Braun, and Mary E. Walsh. 

Can community and school‐based supports improve the achievement of first‐generation immigrant children attending high‐poverty schools? Dearing, E., Walsh, M. E., Sibley, E., Lee‐St John, T., Foley, C., & Raczek, A. E. (2016).  Child Development87(3), 883-897. .

Wraparound services still worth it even after accounting for all costs.Wasser Gish, J., Dearing, E., and Walsh, M.E. (2016).  The Brown Center Chalkboard, Brookings Institute

A new model for student support in high-poverty urban elementary schools: Effects on elementary and middle school academic outcomes. Walsh, M. E., Madaus, G. F., Raczek, A. E., Dearing, E., Foley, C., An, C., Lee-St. John, T. J., & Beaton, A. (2014).  American Educational Research Journal, 51(4), 704-737.

School-university partnerships: Reflections and opportunities. Walsh, M. & Backe, S. (2013). Peabody Journal of Education, 88(5), 594-607.

The Boston Connects program: Promoting learning and healthy development. Walsh, M. E., Kenny, M. E., Wieneke, K. M., & Harrington, K. R. (2008). Professional School Counseling, 12(2), 166-169.

Comprehensive Student Support: A benefit-cost analysis of City Connects, Brooks Bowden, Clive Belfield, Henry Levin, et. al., Center for Benefit Cost Studies of Education, Columbia University. 

Examining Systems of Student Support, Brooks Bowden, Atsuko Muroga, Anyi Wang, et. al., Teacher’s College, Columbia University.

Experiences of practitioners implementing comprehensive student support in high-poverty schools, Amy Heberle, Úna Ní Sheanáin, Mary Walsh, et. al., Improving Schools.

The Impact of Comprehensive Student Support on Teachers Knowledge of the Whole Child, Classroom Practice, and Teacher Support, Erin Sibley, Maria Theodorakakis, Mary E. Walsh, Claire Foley, Jessica Petrie, and Anastasia Raczek, Teaching and Teacher Education.