Much is unknown about those who do not finish high school and there is a need to understand who enters and completes alternative high school completion programs, such as the HiSet (High School Equivalency Test), GED (General Education Development Test), or growing number of state sponsored high school equivalency programs. The purpose for…

For many students, conforming to the traditional K-12 education system is not always compatible with their life circumstances. Map Academy in Plymouth, Massachusetts, now in its second year of operation, aims to provide an education that adapts to the needs and interests of its students while maintaining high expectations. This profile of Map…

In 2004, Boston Public Schools reported that more than 8% of its students dropped out of school that year. The city faced a crisis. Thousands of students were failing to earn a high-school diploma, a necessary credential for entrance into postsecondary education and/or the twenty-first century workforce. Factors driving students' decisions to…

Today, 6.7 million youth in the United States between the ages of 16 and 24 are neither enrolled in school nor employed. This crisis continues to grow as, each year, over one million additional youth become disconnected from the schools and systems intended to prepare them for their future. Educators and youth advocates have dubbed this…

On Dec. 21, 2020, Congress lifted the 26-year ban on federal student aid--specifically, the Pell grant--for those who are incarcerated. The decision came after a long push for prison reforms that included calls for a greater emphasis on rehabilitation, reducing prison populations, and making prison sentences less harsh. New England has long been a…

Almost 7 million young Americans (age 16-24) are insufficiently attached to school or work. Based on conservative estimates, we can generate over $1 billion just by helping a mere 0.1 percent earn a high school credential and complete their first year of college through Back on Track Designs. This brief lays out the cost of setting up these GED-…

Most young people face challenges on the road to a college degree. They must make important decisions about career preparation, financing a college education, and how college and work fit together to ensure income security while in school. These challenges often seem particularly daunting for two groups of students: opportunity youth (OY)--the 5…

Using Kegan's constructive-developmental theory, this study examines transformative learning among six low-income and homeless women of Color pursuing their GED in a shelter-based literacy program. Narrative analysis of two developmental interview instruments indicated that some participants' epistemological perspectives and knowledge construction…

In much research, learners' perspectives tend to be considered in light of a program's expectations or U.S. society's definitions of learner needs, rather than considering how learners would define and make sense of their own experiences, hopes, and needs. In contrast, this study considers learners' meanings as the fundamental starting point for…

How do ABE/ESOL (Adult Basic Education/English for Speakers of Other Languages) programs shape adult learners, and how do adult learners, in turn, shape their programs? Beyond the acquisition of important skills (such as greater fluency in the English language) what are the bigger internal meanings for adults of participating in ABE/ESOL…

The authors carefully followed for a year or more the inner experiences of learning and change of 41 ABE/ESOL (Adult Basic Education/English for Speakers of Other Languages) learners from all over the world. They were enrolled in three distinct U.S. programs (a community college, a family literacy site, and a workplace site), each oriented to…