Project Follow Through - Follow Through Results

Follow Through Results

The results of Follow Through did not show how models that showed little or no effects could be improved. But they did show which models—even under the less than ideal conditions of the experiment—had some indications of success. The most notable critique of Follow Through (described in detail below) takes issue with the fact that the models which showed positive effects were largely basic skills models. Stebbins, et al. (1977, pp. xxiv-xxviii) reported the principal empirical findings of the experiment as follows:

• “The effectiveness of each Follow Through model varied substantially from site group to site group” (p. xxiv)
• “Models that emphasize basic skills succeed better than other models in helping children gain these skills” (p. xxv)
• “Where models have put their primary emphasis elsewhere than on the basic skills, the children they served have tended to score lower on tests of these skills than they would have done without Follow Through” (p. xxvi)
• “No type of model was notably more successful than the others in raising scores on cognitive conceptual skills” (p. xxvi)
• “Models that emphasize basic skills produced better results on tests of self-concept than did other models” (p. xxvi)
• To the extent that Follow Through children have ‘caught up’ with their peers in arithmetic skills, they have tended to do it during the first two years of their involvement in the program” (p. xxvii)
• “Follow Through has been relatively effective with the most disadvantaged children it has served” (p. xxviii)