Workforce development in the K-12 educational setting, including the preparation of new teachers, faces multiple challenges today. These challenges include an ongoing teacher shortage and the lack of a coordinated educational preparation pipeline. Also problematic are the numerous obstacles on the path to teacher credentialing in states like…

Recent research on entering college student assessment instruments and placement practices has been critical. Critics suggest that commonly used assessment instruments are inaccurate, misused, and lack predictive validity. This article describes valid criticisms and appropriate uses of assessment instruments. It also lists challenges and provides…

Learning Expectations and Academic Preparation (LEAP) was a two-year pilot offering a cohort (20 students) of our lowest scoring English and mathematics developmental students an intensive cross-disciplinary semester to accelerate through their developmental courses. Blending learning community and summer bridge best practices, LEAP incorporated…

Community colleges have been challenged to increase their graduation, transfer, and general success rates. Because they serve the largest proportion of nontraditional students and students of color, their participation in programs to enhance the number of college graduates contributes to social equity and justice. One of the biggest obstacles has…

The current trend in postsecondary literacy is to offer developmental reading and writing coursework in an integrated, (and in most cases) accelerated, format. This move toward integration and acceleration is definitely in line with the research literature; however, many of these new courses do not reflect the curricular and pedagogical reforms…

Postsecondary institutions and systems across the nation have demonstrated remarkable progress since the first "Core Principles for Transforming Remediation Within a Comprehensive Student Success Strategy" was published in 2015 (see ED561279). Building on this progress, the Summary Details Education Commission of the States (ECS) has…

The Southern Education Foundation's (SEF) Minority-Serving Institution (MSI) Consortium for Innovation and Change was instituted in 2011 to advance creative and promising initiatives that enhance institutional practice and student outcomes. In keeping with the SEF mission, these innovations specifically address educational barriers that…

President Barack Obama applauded high school redesign efforts in his State of the Union address and encouraged districts to look to successful models for inspiration. Last week, he followed up with a request in his fiscal 2014 budget proposal for a new, $300 million competitive-grant program. Recognition is widespread that high schools need to…

In spite of open access to community college education, specifically human service associate degree programs, students with criminal justice histories do not necessarily have an unobstructed pathway to obtaining the degree and admission to the baccalaureate programs in human services and social work that are almost always selective. The first…

Although two-thirds of Texas college-bound high school graduates are prepared for college work, a large number of recent graduates and adults returning to pursue higher education are not college ready. Those underprepared for college face the hurdle of completing remedial courses--known as developmental education--in one or all core subject areas…

In his first inaugural speech, President Obama declared that "our schools fail too many" and an essential component of laying "a new foundation for growth" will be "to transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age." Concerns about our nation's position in the global education race have led to a focus on…

With research indicating that upwards of 50 percent of all new entering postsecondary education students are placed into remedial education and that students placed into remedial education are less likely to earn a postsecondary credential, policymakers and postsecondary leaders alike have committed themselves to transforming remedial education in…

The revisions to the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 require that career and technical education (CTE) programs provide students with a clear pathway from secondary to postsecondary education, and into high-wage, high-skill and high-demand careers. States nationwide are developing programs, called career pathways, to…

In its analysis of more than 15,000 high school transcripts, the Education Trust-West found that non-college-bound students tend to take a weak academic load and disconnected electives. As a result, far too many students--most often low-income students and students of color--are bound for low-level jobs, prepared for neither college nor career.…

The English Language Learner (ELL) Summer Camp in Worcester, Massachusetts--an intensive six-week program that served middle school and high school students from Worcester Public Schools (WPS)--was the product of a five-way partnership that included the school district, higher education institutions (Latino Education Institute [LEI] at Worcester…