Summer bridge programs are designed to help transition students into the college learning environment. Increasingly, bridge programs are being developed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines because of the rigorous content and lower student persistence in college STEM compared with other disciplines. However, to…

Successful careers in sustainability are determined by positive real-world change towards sustainability. This success depends heavily on professional skills in effective and compassionate communication, collaborative teamwork, or impactful stakeholder engagement, among others. These professional skills extend beyond content knowledge and…

Teachers need career pathways that provide new challenges and sustained opportunities for leadership without leaving the classroom. Better opportunities for leadership and innovative pathways help to increase the retention of strong teachers. Although few such programs existed several years ago, a growing number of states, districts, charter…

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the growing body of research that focuses on best practices for environmental sustainability education in K-12 classrooms. A review of related literature included emerging trends, commitment by business leaders to engage in CSR activities in the community, and opportunities for education at the K-12…

This paper reviews the literature on best practices to engage parents in order to equip them to support their children's higher education aspirations. Parents from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds, in common with other parents, report that they want "the best" for their children's future. Getting a good education is a part of…

The cost of attending college has risen sharply over the last 40 years. Although more credit and grant aid have been made available to students, there are still major gaps between aid and the cost of attendance for many students in the United States, all of whom are left to figure out whether they can afford the remaining costs associated with…

In school districts across the nation, diverse student groups, including English Learners and students with disabilities, have been experiencing significant gains in reading performance after using READ 180. This compendium of READ 180 research contains results of 40 studies conducted in a variety of settings, in school districts across the…

Background/Context: The U.S. federal government has been interested in improving the performance of students who come from low-income homes since the time of Lyndon Johnson's "Great Society" initiatives in the 1960s. The current administration strongly supports the belief that good schools can be created and has funded the Comprehensive…

The combination of difficult economic times and increased accountability has led policymakers to call for evidence that students taught by National Board of Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS)-certified teachers make greater achievement gains than those taught by non-NBPTS-certified teachers. Overall, studies show mixed results regarding the…

This paper describes state, institutional, and other community-based programs deemed exemplary (on the basis of design imperatives) for successful interventions to promote meaningful access of minority group youth to postsecondary education. The imperatives include early intervention, comprehensive and integrated intervention, intervention…

These matrices summarize the content of the certification/chartering requirements established by nine first-round and three second-round implementation states to deliver services in One-Stop Career Centers. Seven areas or dimensions of design/operations are compared. The narrative accompanying the matrices is divided into two sections--a matrix…

In this study a representative sample of 880 elementary and secondary teachers currently teaching in 33 schools across the state of Arizona were asked about their perceptions of how their ELL students were faring under current instructional policies for ELL students. Teachers were surveyed during the Spring of 2010. Overall findings show that most…

This study compares the experiences and perceptions of new and experienced teachers in 235 schools in six western states (Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Washington, and Wyoming) that have adopted the Reading First school reform initiative. Using previously collected data from surveys and interviews, the study considers four areas of the reform…

This project was conducted to determine how best to serve the needs of rural vocational education students in Arizona. The study examined the literature on delivering instruction in such a manner that graduates of all vocational programs have equal opportunity, equal access, and equal competitiveness in the marketplace. Problems in supplying…

Problems and issues related to the financing and use of educational technologies in Arizona schools are addressed from both short- and long-term considerations. A brief review of the spread of computers in schools includes projections for future use of computers in education and a discussion of factors affecting the market, the convergence of…