Our Impact

City Year provides a powerful double bottom line: improved outcomes for students in high-need schools and the cultivation of the next generation of leaders through our alumni.

Since 1988, City Year has:

2 million children

Served more than 2 million children

57 million service hours

Completed over 57 million service hours

30,0000 alumni

Graduated more than 30,000 alumni
 

City Year AmeriCorps member in the classroom

Improving Outcomes for
Students in High-Need Schools

Supporting School-Wide Gains

According to research by Policy Studies Associates on 600 schools in 22 school districts,1 schools partnering with City Year—as compared with similar schools without City Year—were:

Up to 3x more likely

to improve on math assessments

2x more likely to improve

on ELA assessments
One additional day of learning

These schools gained the equivalent of approximately one month additional English and math learning, compared with schools that did not partner with City Year.

Reducing Early-Warning Indicators

A major national randomized control trial found that schools that partner with Diplomas Now—a collaboration founded with City Year, Communities in School and Talent Development Secondary—reduced the number of students at risk of dropping out according to the research-based early warning indicators: low attendance, poor behavior and course failure in ELA or math.2

The study also found statistically significant impact on reducing chronic absenteeism in middle schools, defined as missing more than 10 percent of school days in a single academic year.

Ensuring more students are on track to graduation

Students who reach 10th grade on time and on track in their attendance, behavior and course performance are three times more likely to graduate from high school. City Year has helped drive a:

  • 57% reduction in the number students off track in English Language Arts.
  • 47% reducation in the number of students off track in math.

Enhancing whole school learning conditions

Research shows that students who stay in school are more engaged and report that they perform better academically when they feel connected to as least one adult who is part of their educational experience.3

93%

93% of partner teachers agree that City Year AmeriCorps members helped to foster a positive learning environment for their students.4

Improving Attendance

Nationwide, more than seven million students are chronically absent, defined as missing at least 10 percent of school days per year, or the equivalent of a month of school.5

Calendar

Students coached by City Year improved their attendance by at least 2 percentage points,6 which translates to an additional 3.5 days in school, or more than 5,000 collective additional days of instruction.

Strengthening Social-Emotional Development

City Year helped 69 percent of students identified as needing support to move on track in their social-emotional skills.7 Skills measured include self-awareness, self-management and relationship development, which research shows contributes to college and career readiness.

Download the full impact highlights document.

City Year AmeriCorps member in the classroom

Cultivating the next
generation of leaders

Through their intensive work in schools and high-need communities, City Year's diverse AmeriCorps members acquire valuable leadership and professional skills that prepare them to lead and contribute in a variety of professions after their year or two of national service.

30,000 City Year Alumni

are leading and serving in a wide range of professions, including education, business, law, health, corporate social responsibility, government and public policy.8

94% of City Year Alumni

agree that their City Year experience had a significantly positive impact on their lives.9

City Year Alumni are 45% More Likely

to be civically engaged or belong to a community organization.10

300+ City Year Alumni

each year decide to become teachers after their year of service, creating a diverse pipeline of talented and trained educators committed to student success.11

 

1  Policy Studies Associates. (2015). Analysis of the Impacts of City Year’s Whole School Whole Child Model on Partner Schools Performance. For more on the study, visit our Research section. 

2  Diplomas Now Brief. i3 Early Impact Report: Analysis and Implications. (2016). For more on the study, visit our Research section. 

3  Johns Hopkins Urban Health Institute. Best Practices for Effective Schools. Retrieved from: http://urbanhealth.jhu.edu/media/best_practices/effective_schools.pdf.

4  Spring 2017 teacher survey, n=1,865.

5  Attendance Works. (2018). Retrieved from: http://www.attendanceworks.org/chronic-absence/the-problem/10-facts-about-school-attendance.

6  2016-2017, attendance, Gr. 3-9, n=2,626.

7  2016-2017, SEL n=4,726 (SEL as measured by Devereux Student Strengths Assessment (DESSA), a validated observational assessment that measures social-emotional competencies in students in K-8.).

8  2018 City Year alumni data.

9  2018 City Year Alumni Survey. The survey was delivered to 16,000 alumni and received a 33 percent response rate, a statistically significant sample with a 95 percent confidence interval and one-point margin of error. Over half of the survey respondents are from those who graduated from City Year between 2014 and 2017; therefore, the data is most reflective of recent alumni sentiments.

10   The City Year Experience: Putting alumni on the path to lifelong civic engagement. (2007). Retrieved from: http://www.policystudies.com/_policystudies.com/files/City_Year_Alumni_Cohort_Study.pdf.

11  Assumes 110 City Year AmeriCorps members per site/city served; average of 11 corps from each city entering teaching each year.