States have introduced a range of strategies and legislative policies aimed at increasing college matriculation through readiness strategies and initiatives that offer strong collaboration between secondary and postsecondary education. Early college high school (ECHS) models are one-way that colleges, primarily community colleges, can serve…

The Austin Independent School District (AISD) offered several academic summer programs to students June through August 2021. These programs offered students opportunities to accelerate their learning, recover academic course credits, and support grade level transition. Although AISD offered a variety of summer programs in 2021, this report focuses…

The Hawai'i State Department of Education is excited to provide a comprehensive menu of engaging summer learning opportunities for students in the summer months. Summer learning has been expanded beyond the traditional summer school model to appeal to and reach as many students as possible. Offerings will span all grade levels, from a transition…

Jobs for the Future and the Greater Texas Foundation's new report documents an early college program in El Paso, Texas that has enabled over a thousand students to earn a bachelor's degree, and holds lessons for early college advocates and leaders. Texas has been at the forefront of the early college movement since early college--which integrates…

Some may argue that gifted children have many education options, but these options do not always help gifted students learn science. Unfortunately, gifted students often do not reach their full academic potential--they are frequently less motivated to succeed because they are not being academically challenged in regular classrooms (McCoach and…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

If everyone needs an education through two years of college or the equivalent, then the nation has an obligation to provide a far more certain pathway for postsecondary success than it does now. Because so many young people fail to complete the final years of high school, graduate but do not apply to college, or begin postsecondary education only…

Educators in the US are becoming increasingly focused on the idea of early colleges, by which high-school students take college courses at postsecondary institutions to improve their educational experience. Early colleges can be a strong alternative for some students under 18 because they employ many of the approaches to liberal-arts education…

This article outlines the types of school programs that will build on the strengths of educationally disadvantaged students, bring them into the mainstream, and prepare them for economic, political, and social participation. (MT)

A variety of accelerative options for gifted high school students is described, including part-time college programs and full-time early entrance programs. The University of Washington's Transition School and Early Entrance Program is presented as an option for teenagers to enter university without attending high school at all. (DB)

A growing number of schools and colleges are making college courses available to high school seniors. This document discusses factors affecting the success of partnerships between schools and colleges for the purpose of providing such courses and describes several programs currently operating. The author first identifies 10 basic principles…

Austin Independent School District served more than 13,000 students in summer programs during 2009, providing opportunities for accelerated learning, maintenance of academic skills between school years, course credit recovery, state achievement tests, or school-level transition activities. This report summarizes this information.

This report provides an overview of the Running Start program; data about student participation rates and academic performance; updates on savings to families, taxpayers and the state; and new information about national trends in dual-credit programs. Running Start is a program that allows 11th and 12th grade students to take college courses at…

Schoolwide literacy--the teaching of reading, writing, speaking, and thinking practices in all content areas--is generally considered an effective, even necessary, approach to addressing the learning needs of adolescents. In early college high schools, which blend high school and college for students who are underserved in higher education, the…

The precollege program in the sciences at the University of Iowa is described, along with program developments during its history, aspects of interest to other institutions, and issues for institutions to consider in starting a similar program. (MSE)