This study addresses the distribution of words in texts at different points of schooling. The first aim was to identify a core vocabulary that accounts for the majority of the words in texts through the lens of morphological families. Results showed that 2,451 morphological families, averaging 4.61 members, make up the core vocabulary of school…

The Boston Opportunity Agenda is a partnership among the City of Boston, Boston Public Schools, the University of Massachusetts Boston, and the city's leading public charities along with many other local foundations and philanthropists. The partnership's goal is to use its members' varied resources and expertise in a unified manner to improve the…

Focused attention to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and college and career readiness (CCR) has been attributed to increased secondary school reform efforts directed at ensuring all students graduate high school prepared for adulthood. To successfully experience college and careers, students must have the knowledge, skills, and experiences…

State K-12 assessments may soon include measures for college readiness, as California's already do. We seek to understand how California's Early Assessment Program (EAP, designed to assess high school juniors' college readiness in English and math) may have influenced overall school-level college readiness and state accountability outcomes. Using…

As high school students make more and more important decisions, their need for financial literacy increases significantly. To succeed in life, they need both an understanding of financial issues and the math skills to make financially sound choices. With all the requirements and standards to be met in high schools today, how can teachers find room…

This brief shares the perspectives and concerns of high school teachers in two districts regarding implementing the Common Core State Standards, specifically as the Common Core pertains to preparing more students for college and well-paying careers. The brief also makes state policy recommendations for ways to support teachers in their efforts to…

California is home to more of the "super rich" than any other state (Pastor & Braun 2015), and yet Californians, on average, have become poorer since the turn of the century. With cost of living taken into account, California now claims the nation's highest rate of poverty (Fox 2017). California's disparities extend beyond economic…

After spending years in a special education system that carefully spells out their rights and the services they should receive, students with disabilities often find it daunting to contemplate their next steps after high school. Should they apply to college, look for a job, or stay in the special education system until they "age out" at…

The goal of this study was to examine the pathways to being college ready in mathematics. Students who enter high school already having demonstrated mathematics proficiency on a standardized test in the 8th grade have already taken a significant step towards being college ready. The best scenario is to enter high school proficient in mathematics…

More engaging and challenging standards build a strong academic foundation for all students. Girls--and in particular, girls of color--have a lot to gain from more rigorous learning standards that better prepare them for college and career success. This fact sheet explores the positive effect the Common Core State Standards can have on gender…

For over a decade, standards-based education has been an integral part of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education's (OVAE) program of national leadership activities to improve the quality of adult education and literacy programs nationwide. The standards-based education movement in adult education has resulted in communicating clearer…

This edition of the eBulletin highlights the issues of raising standards, ensuring access to rigorous curricula and assessments, and ensuring that every child is both work and college ready upon graduation. With the increased emphasis placed on these issues in recent years through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) and the American…