This is the executive summary for the report, "Finding a Way Forward: Young People's Experiences Navigating the World of Work." It presents findings from a new qualitative study that explores specific questions about work and careers from the perspectives of 65 young adult participants in five career pathways programs across the country.…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 (Public Law 114-95) requires each state to create a plan for its statewide accountability system. In particular, ESSA calls for state plans that include strategies for reporting education outcomes by grade for all students and for economically disadvantaged students, students from major racial and…

In the past four decades, profound changes in the U.S. economy--including falling wages, widening inequality, and the polarization of jobs at the top and bottom of the education and wage distributions--have had dramatic implications for the labor-market fortunes of young adults. Only about half of young people ages 16 to 24 held jobs in 2014, and…

The accelerated master's degree in nursing program at the Georgia Health Sciences University, formerly the Medical College of Georgia, has seen its minority student enrollment grow from just a smattering when it launched in 2006 to 16 percent last fall. Incremental increases in minority student enrollment--GHSU's nursing program currently enrolls…

The first Innocence Project (IP) was founded in 1992 by attorneys Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. The original goal was to free people whose innocence could be proven using DNA. So far, IPs have helped free nearly 300 men and women who had served an average of 13 years for crimes they…

Broadening computer science learning to include more students is a crucial item on the United States' education agenda, these authors say. Although policymakers advocate more computer science expertise, computer science offerings in high schools are few--and actually shrinking. In addition, poorly resourced schools with a high percentage of…

The determinants of youth health disparities include poverty, unequal access to health care, poor environmental conditions, and educational inequities. Poor and minority children have more health problems and less access to health care than their higher socioeconomic status cohorts. Having more health problems leads to more absenteeism in school,…

The trends are clear--a high school education is no longer adequate to prepare young people for the rapidly changing information economy of the 21st century. According to the U.S. Department of Labor (2009), approximately 65 percent of the fastest growing jobs today require at least some form of postsecondary education. If the United States is to…

This paper explores the impact of recent economic volatility on higher education and discusses the lessons learned and the strategies for the future. The author believes that America's higher education is in danger, but has an extraordinary opportunity. Several reports point to the country's lagging behind other advanced countries in educational…

Over the last decade, policy and business leaders have come to know what parents have always known: teachers make the greatest difference to student achievement. With new statistical and analytical methods used by a wide range of researchers, evidence has been mounting that teacher quality can account for a large share of variance in student test…

Poor childhood health contributes to lower socioeconomic status in adulthood. Subsequently, low socioeconomic status among parents contributes to poor childhood health outcomes in the next generation. This cycle can be particularly pernicious for vulnerable and low-income minority populations, including many children of immigrants. And because of…

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…

After years of debate, the nation is now taking a bold step toward ensuring that all students graduate ready for college and careers. Under the leadership of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, a panel has drafted a set of Common Core State Standards for college and career…

Over the last decade, policy and business leaders have come to know what parents have always known: teachers are the largest school-based factor in student achievement. Yet not all schools have equal access to the most effective teachers. High-needs schools that serve large proportions of economically disadvantaged and minority students are more…

Describes cooperative efforts by 15 urban school districts with minority enrollments of 35-90 percent to study reasons for and solutions to academic achievement gap of minority students by using data from the Network for Equity in Student Achievement in partnership with the Education Research Service. (PKP)