Evaluation of Think College’s Future Quest Island-Explorations Curriculum

Challenge

Students with disabilities—and students from low-income communities and low-performing schools—may limit their plans for higher education and career goals if they see their potential only through the lens of their current circumstances. Although these students need support to increase their knowledge of employment and higher education options, few resources have been available to them.

To advance knowledge of how to support young students’ future career planning, EDC is leading an evaluation of Think College’s Future Quest Island-Explorations (FQI-E). FQI-E is an online curriculum that uses gaming strategies to raise students’ college and career awareness, support their self-awareness, and build their goal-setting and social-emotional skills. Drawing on evidence-based Possible Selves constructs, the curriculum seeks to broaden students’ goals and expectations for their futures.

Key Activities

EDC is conducting a quasi-experimental design research study to measure the impact of FQI-E on elementary school students in 14 schools. The study is examining how:

FQI-E affects the early college and career awareness, social emotional competence, and self-concepts of 945 elementary school students
FQI-E’s digital teacher toolkit—a self-paced implementation guide—supports 48 grade 3–5 teachers in engaging students in using the online curriculum

Impact

EDC’s evaluation will provide new insights into FQI-E’s potential to address opportunity gaps for students with disabilities and students from high-risk communities.