Keenly aware that many effective flagship programs fail to stay effective when they expand, the U.S. Department of Education funded a validation study of Higher Achievement in 2015 to examine whether students’ academic performance was positively impacted at the expansion sites and whether a promising program can be scaled up and remain effective. MDRC, in collaboration with the authors of the first study of Higher Achievement, began the validation study in 2015. This report documents that study’s findings. (author abstract)