In a recent Arizona study, 37% of at-risk students and one in three youth overall report that while growing up they never had an adult mentor or tutor. Additionally, high school freshmen are at a greater risk for dropping out of school than any other grade level. The TEST program is designed to overcome these known barriers to success. The program’s structure supports underserved freshmen by providing individualized tutoring and employing economic incentives for those students who successfully achieve the goals of the TEST intervention:

“There is widespread agreement that America’s school system is in desperate need of reform, but many educational interventions are ineffective, expensive, or difficult to implement. Recent incentive programs, however, demonstrate that well-designed rewards to students can improve achievement at relatively low costs” (Allan, B. M., & Fryer, R. G., 2011).

The TEST intervention has been specifically structured to overcome known obstacles to success by offering a unique approach to supplemental learning. The program offers comprehensive services at no charge to economically disadvantaged freshmen. This program enables students who would otherwise be excluded due to their economic status. The TEST program capitalizes on LEA resources by pairing experienced alumni with incoming freshmen. Further, by requiring parent oversight students will benefit from an intimate and expanded support network that in turn bolsters the students’ maximum learning potential. The TEST intervention is also flexible because individualized tutoring occurs in-home or at local community centers. The program is unique in its approach to supplemental education in that it uses learning devices and digital instruction to engage students in an innovative way, while still maintaining human connectivity and mentorship.