Traditionally colleges have relied on standalone non-credit-bearing developmental education (DE) to support students academically and ensure readiness for college-level courses. As emerging evidence has raised concerns about the effectiveness of DE courses, colleges and states have been experimenting with approaches that place students into…

For many years, the Catholic school system within the United States was considered the preeminent educational institution, particularly for poor and marginalized students that live in low income, inner city areas. Now, given the large number of school closures, the Catholic school system's long-standing goal of educating economically disadvantaged…

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) serves a large majority of socioeconomically disadvantaged students who are struggling academically and are underprepared for high school graduation and college. This article describes the partnership between LAUSD and the Los Angeles Education Research Institute, and how this collaboration endeavors…

The school dropout rate in America is too high, especially for low-income students and those from nondominant racial or ethnic groups. For many students, the social-psychological and behavioral disengagement from school that leads to dropping out often begins in middle school. Research on early adolescents confirms that increasing the perceived…

This project investigated the interrelationships between family expectations and young people's post-school plans. All of the participants were from financially disadvantaged families. The research used interviews to understand these young people's perspectives of their transition experiences: the ways in which young people's school experiences…

In terms of opportunities for college, the society is not a level playing field, according to David Conley, professor and director of the research center for educational policy, University of Oregon. Middle and upper classes have far more access to the right information than others. Conley adds that when a person goes to college, he/she needs a…

Attrition statistics for first-year students in many tertiary environments suggest that students face a wide variety of obstacles. Students in developmental education programmes usually have one additional obstacle: They have a history of failure in academic settings. Therefore there are emotional and psychological barriers in addition to academic…

Describes how supporters for TRIO and Gear Up, the two main federal programs that encourage low-income students to prepare for college, are girding for a battle over a proposed budget merger. (EV)

Study of Upward Bound programs, designed to help disadvantaged high school students attend and succeed in college, finds participants have higher educational expectations and college-preparatory achievement than do nonparticipants; Hispanic students and students with initially lower expectations benefit most; there is no impact on students' high…

Suggests that higher education historians often ignore or minimize the history of developmental education. Argues that this memory distortion may be an effort to avoid the discomfort of facing the history of inequity in higher education. (Contains 28 references.) (NB)

This article explores the experiences of widening access students at two prestigious universities in Scotland. It is based on interview data collected from a small sample of young and mature students who had all attended a widening access course prior to coming to university. The analysis centres on the students' construction of themselves as…

Discusses the importance of academic advising to increase college student retention, graduation, and transfer in student-support-services programs designed for first-generation, low-income students and students with disabilities. An integrative, intrusive model of academic advising is defined, its benefits are outlined, and several successful…

A program to mesh the skills of counselors and tutors was implemented in an educational-opportunity program designed to serve underprepared and economically disadvantaged students at a New York four-year college in the late 1980s. The model's success resulted in additional private funding at the original site and incorporation of the model into…

A study reported the status of approximately 2,900 participants in the student-support-services program for disadvantaged college students, and of 2,900 comparable nonparticipating students three years after college entry, looking at grades received, number of credits accumulated, and retention rates. The study also collected information on how…