Programs that Work

Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP)

Program Info

Outcome Areas

Healthy and Safe Children
Children Succeeding in School

Indicators

Students graduating from high school
Youths abstaining from sexual activity or not engaging in risky sexual behavior

Topic Areas

     Age of Child
       Adolescence
     Type of Setting
       High School
     Type of Service
       Instructional Support
       Youth Development
     Type of Outcome Improved
       Cognitive Development / School Performance
       Teen Sex / Pregnancy

Evidence Level (What does this mean?)

Proven / Promising

Program Overview

Developed by Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America, Inc. (OIC), the Quantum Opportunity Program (QOP) is a youth development program for socio-economically disadvantaged youth. Using a comprehensive case management approach, the program provides year-round services to youth throughout the four years of high school.

The program’s main goal is to improve academic deficiencies. A secondary emphasis is to establish meaningful, long-term relationships between the participants, who are called "Associates" and program Coordinators. Finally, the program encourages involvement and commitment to school and community. Associates engage in 250 hours of activity in each of three areas every year: education, development, and community service. Associates are provided financial incentives, through stipends and bonuses, for participating in QOP activities.

This program received a "proven" rating for the indicator Students graduating from high school and a "promising" rating for the indicator Youths abstaining from sexual activity or not engaging in risky sexual behavior. See Issues to Consider below for further explanation.

Program Participants

The demonstration program enrolled 25 students at each of five different sites around the country: San Antonio, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, and Saginaw, Mchigan. All the students chosen were entering the ninth grade and living in a family that was receiving welfare payments. At entry, 76 percent of the group were African American, 11 percent were Hispanic, Asian or of another ethnic background, and 13 percent were White. QOP was also replicated on a larger scale in seven more cities, with a total of 600 participants.

Evaluation Methods

At each demonstration program site, 50 students entering the ninth grade in 1989 were randomly chosen from lists of families receiving public assistance. Half of the students were then assigned to the program and recruited by the QOP directors. The remaining students became the control group. A questionnaire collected information on demographics, work experience, school experience, health knowledge, personal attitudes, and opinions. In addition, academic levels (vocabulary, reading comprehension, computation, concepts, mechanics, and expression) and functional skill levels (in knowledge of occupations, consumer economics, government, health, and knowledge of community resources) were assessed using the Test of Adult Basic Education and the Comprehensive Competencies Program (CCP) Tier Mastery Test, respectively. The tests were repeated in 1990, 1991, and in spring of 1993, as was distribution of the questionnaires.

The original evaluation (Hahn, Leavitt, and Aaron, 1994) analyzed survey data from four of the five original sites (the Milwaukee program was never fully implemented). A follow-up study (Hahn, 1999) of the original program is based on a questionnaire administered in late fall 1993, several months after participants should have graduated from high school.

Key Evaluation Findings

Compared with the control group, Hahn et al. (1994) found that:

There were no significant program effects after only one year
By the second year of the program, the average test scores for Associates were significantly higher in five of eleven academic and functional areas: vocabulary, comprehension, mathematics computation, mathematics concepts, and language expression
By the end of the program in 1993, average group scores were significantly higher in all eleven areas

Hahn (1999) reports that compared to the control group:

Associates were significantly more likely to graduate from high school (63 percent vs. 42 percent)
Associates were significantly more likely to be in postsecondary school (42 percent vs. 16 percent)
Associates were significantly less likely to be high school dropouts (23 percent vs. 50 percent )
Associates were less likely to have children (24 percent vs. 38 percent )

Probable Implementers

Non-profit community-based organizations, secondary schools, and youth development professionals

Funding

The Ford Foundation funded the original pilot program. The average cost for each Associate over the four years was $10,600. The Ford Foundation and the U.S. Department of Labor provided funding for the program's second phase (1995 to 1999).

Implementation Detail

Program Details:

The program operates year-round and combines features of case management, mentoring, computer-assisted instruction, work experience, and financial incentives.
There are three major components: 250 hours each of education activities, development activities, and service activities every year.
The activities are individually tailored using a case-management approach, adjusting for short-term and long-term goals and advancement.
The QOP motto is "Once in QOP, Always in QOP." Associates are never dropped from the program and may return at any point during the four years. Similarly, one of the program’s goals is to have the same Coordinator stay with the group for four years.
The program provides financial incentives for participating in the program. Associates receive a stipend for each hour spent on QOP activities, and a bonus of $100 after completing 100 hours of education, development, or service activities in a given year (for up to $300). The stipends and bonuses are placed in an interest bearing Quantum Opportunity Account and held for approved use, such as college or job training.

Curriculum:
The Comprehensive Competencies Program was developed by Robert Taggart at the Remediation and Training Institute. The program consists of 96 courses, 48 academic and 48 functional courses covering such topics as employment, health, and consumer economics. Each course consists of individually paced book lessons, supplemented with audiocassettes, videos, and other multimedia CD materials. The educational activities take place in a computer based learning lab located near the Associates’ school. Location can become a factor in participation as transportation may be difficult for many of the Associates.

Staffing:
Each site Coordinator is responsible for multiple duties. As a program manager the Coordinator is responsible for budget and resource management, coordinating the program with schools and community agencies, and planning activities. As a case manager, the Coordinator develops an annual contract with each Associate, keeps monthly progress reports, arranges service activities, and works with Associates on a weekly basis. At larger sites, the case management tasks may be divided among individual counselors while the Coordinator concentrates on the program management aspects. The initial training for Coordinators lasted 6.5 days, with annual four-day sessions in subsequent years.

Issues to Consider

This program received a "proven" rating for the indicator Students graduating from high school and a "promising" rating for the indicator Youths abstaining from sexual activity or not engaging in risky sexual behavior. Evaluations of the program have shown significant and positive program effects. The outcome concerning graduates met a higher level of statistical significance than the finding regarding pregnancy, which is why there is a difference in the ratings.

It should be noted that there was variability in results among the program sites. These differences may indicate that the program’s success is heavily dependent on successful replication. For example, Lattimore (1998) points out that the San Antonio site lost contact with half of its Associates and seemed to have trouble providing opportunities for Associates to meet their 250 hours a year of service and developmental activities. There were no significant differences between Associates and the control group at this site regarding high school graduation rates or post-secondary school enrollment.

The Philadelphia site was the most successful of the four evaluated sites. Even with the small sample size, Philadelphia Associates were significantly more likely to graduate, to be in post-secondary school, to not be a high school drop-out, to have received an honor or award, to be a volunteer counselor or tutor, and to have volunteered time compared with Philadelphia control students. The evaluations identified several characteristics that seemed to set Philadelphia apart. Those characteristics were its ability to create a group identity among the Associates, a reliable menu of program offerings, and stable, consistent relationships between Associates and staff.

The Lattimore (1998) review also pointed out a number of problems with implementation at several of the sites. They included establishing relationships with the high schools, working out the details of the financial incentives, obtaining parental consent, transportation for the Associates, staff turnover, and staff management buy-in (Coordinator’s having some disagreement/ misunderstandings about the program’s philosophy).

Example Sites

The original demonstration project took place in San Antonio, Philadelphia, Oklahoma City, and Saginaw, Michigan. Today, the project is being replicated in seven sites: Cleveland, Fort Worth, Houston, Memphis, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Yakima, Washington.

Contact Information

C. Benjamin Lattimore
Director, Office of National Literacy Programs
Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America, Inc.
1415 N. Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122
215-236-4500
fax: 215-236-7480
CBEL2@aol.com

Available Resources

There are several summaries of QOP, including:

American Youth Policy Forum, Forum Brief: Promoting Youth Development in Urban Communities--Unprecedented Success for the Quantum Opportunities Program, 1994. http://www.aypf.org/forumbriefs/1994/fb102894.htm

Department of Health and Human Services, Preventing Teen Pregnancy: Promoting Promising Strategies: A Guide for Communities, June 13, 1996, http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/HSP/Teenp/examples.htm

Creating and Evaluating Successful Teen Pregnancy Programs, Accord, N.Y.: Philliber Research Associates, 1998.

Bibliography

Hahn, A., T. Leavitt and P. Aaron,    Evaluation of the Quantum Opportunities Program,    Heller Graduate School, Center for Human Resources, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., 1994.

Hahn, Andrew. “Extending the Time of Learning,” in Douglas J. Besharov, ed.,   America’s Disconnected Youth,   Washington, D.C.: Child Welfare League of America, Inc., 1999.

Lattimore, C. Benjamin,    The Quantum Opportunities Program,    Blueprints for Violence Prevention Series, Book 4, Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado at Boulder, 1998.

Last Reviewed

September 2002

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