Too often school leaders, teachers and counselors invest their energies into preparing students for college. In today's society, that's not enough. Students must be prepared for multiple options after high school including gainful employment. This newsletter looks at ways schools can ensure more students are college and career-ready by creating…

Less than 25 percent of college students who take any developmental education courses earn a credential within eight years. Over the past three years, the six states in the Developmental Education Initiative have developed and enacted unprecedented changes in policy and practice in an effort to reverse these dismal outcomes. "Ahead of the…

Helping students make the transition to high school and preparing them for postsecondary learning is built into the day-to-day processes at Statesville (NC) High School. The author and his staff members always strive to do what is best for the students. Because statistics indicate that the freshman class is always the largest and the senior class…

Chris Barbic, a Teach For America corps member, started Project Youth Engaged in Service (YES) in 1995. He wanted to offer his former elementary-school students an alternative to the low-performing middle schools they otherwise would attend. Since then Barbic has led a high-energy team of educators in refining a comprehensive approach to helping…

Researchers conducted case studies of Ninth Grade Success Initiative (NGSI) grants to gain a greater understanding of issues facing large numbers of at-risk students, many of whom, despite potentially receiving services as early as kindergarten, still reach ninth grade unprepared to succeed academically in high school. Case studies focused on NGSI…