Community colleges are grappling with low rates of degree completion and transfer. The City University of New York's (CUNY) Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP) aims to improve graduation rates by providing a range of comprehensive support services to community college students in select majors. Using student-unit record data, we…

Students with disabilities are faced with many challenges as they transition from high school to postsecondary education, enter the workforce, and begin independent living. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 (IDEA) initially addressed these challenges by mandating that transition planning be included as a part of the…

This report describes how five states -- Alabama, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas -- made exceptional progress in student achievement during the first decade of the 21st century. State leaders in these states all realized early in the decade that they had a problem they wanted to address. They established a "plan" at the state…

Often, campus policies and public debate on student success has been too heavily focused on standardization of curriculum and assessment and on an unacceptably flawed graduation rate formula. The report, "Student Success in Higher Education," brings the voice of front-line faculty and staff into student success policymaking to ensure…

Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) is a national not-for-profit organization with a 30-year tested and proven model to cost effectively prevent school dropout among young people facing challenges of staying in school through graduation, pursuing postsecondary education and/or securing quality entry-level jobs. JAG stakeholders passionately believe…

In this paper we investigate how participation in the Early Assessment Program, which provides California high school juniors with information about their academic readiness for college-level work at California State University campuses, affects their college-going behavior and need for remediation in college. Using administrative records from…

This article describes findings and evolution of a teacher-training program based on a partnership of knowledge domains (technology, content, and pedagogy), teaching staff (college faculty and school teachers), educational institutions (colleges and K-12), and local communities (urban and suburban). Within 5 years, more than 180 teachers from 15…

In 2007, spurred by University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (UChicago CCSR) research reports, leadership at the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a new targeted approach to reducing course failure in the ninth grade. The research suggested that the transition between eighth and ninth grade played a critical role in shaping…

This Accountability Report shows the status and progression of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) from one year to the next. The Executive Summary is divided into the following sections: (1) Dashboard; (2) Performance Funding Metrics; (3) Key Achievements; and (4) Narrative. Data tables on FAMU's financial resources, personnel,…

The primary users of the current college ranking systems do not seem to be high-school students and families, but college presidents, board members, and development officers. As structured, the commercial ranking systems imply a precision that is not corroborated by research on what matters in college, nor can college quality be accurately summed…

Postsecondary education has been linked to improved access to employment opportunities for individuals with and without disabilities. The purpose of this study was to determine factors associated with increased employment outcomes for Vocational Rehabilitation consumers enrolled in community college short term occupational skill training programs.…

This ethnographic case study investigated second year college students who participated in the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program at a technical college in northeastern Pennsylvania. In order to understand how learners stayed motivated in a college setting, I selected participants who were in their second year of the TAA program. A total of…

The intentions were noble. It was hoped that remediation programs would be an academic bridge from poor high school preparation to college readiness. Sadly, remediation has become instead higher education's "Bridge to Nowhere." This broken remedial bridge is travelled by some 1.7 million beginning students each year, most of whom will…

Nationwide, magnet programs enroll more than twice the number of students served by charter schools, making them the most popular form of school choice. Across the U.S., over 1.5 million U.S. children attend magnet schools. In Miami-Dade County Public Schools, over 42,000 students are enrolled in magnet programs. The bulk of this report focuses on…

This paper examines two IMLS-funded scholarship programs that targeted non-traditional LIS students, documenting non-academic aspects of the programs that participating students identified as most important to the successful completion of their academic programs and to their establishment as contributing members of the professional library…