"Pathways to Implementation" highlights innovative strategies and effective models in career pathways policy, implementation, and programming, as well as challenges states encounter in this work. This seven-part series addresses the key elements of Bellwether's framework for career pathways policy implementation. Each brief defines the…

Policy research established that it is possible to predict a student will drop out of school based on academic, attendance, behavior indicators. Little is known about the processes that put Early Warning Systems (EWS) in place. This case study of the Montana EWS describes the characteristics of a statewide implementation, the efficiency of the EWS…

Counselors are a common school resource for students navigating complicated and consequential education choices. However, most students have limited access to school counselors. We study one of the largest U.S. policies to increase access to school counselors -- California's Supplemental School Counseling Program. The program increased the average…

A companion piece to "High Stakes for High Achievers: State Accountability in the Age of ESSA," this report appraises states' current (or planned) accountability systems as they affect high-achieving students in high school. They were examined and rated based on whether they incorporate under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) the…

This was a study about the New Century Scholarship (NCS) program offered to Utah high school students at commencement for earning an Associate of Arts (AA) degree by the time they graduate from high school. An Associate of Arts degree is earning 60 college credits toward a specific AA program. The goal of the NCS program was to assist students to…

Results from an evaluation of 11 academy programs in California high schools designed to reduce dropout rates in the state are reported for 1987-88. Results of the matched comparison study were generally positive, and the estimated net economic benefit from dropout prevention for 327 students was 1 to 1.3 million dollars. (SLD)

Outcome data are provided for a national evaluation of Learn and Serve America School and Community-Based Programs and the Florida Learn and Serve program for 1995-96. Both national and Florida state data show positive effects, including improved attendance, improved academic achievement, and better attitudes for Learn and Serve participants. (SLD)

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under Chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995, amended 2007), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by…

This report provides an evaluation of the Postsecondary Enrollment Options program, enacted in Minnesota in 1985 to allow 11th- and 12th-grade students to take postsecondary courses at state expense. It is based on interviews with state education and social services officials, a survey of 401 high school principals and directors of alternative…

This guide to residential state academies for academically gifted high school students discusses the history of this movement, student characteristics, curricula, faculty, outreach programs, and evaluation. The establishment of the nine existing state institutions is traced from the prototype, the North Carolina School for Science and Mathematics,…

This proposal is for an additional New York State secondary certification to be called the Regents External High School Diploma. The new diploma program has been designed to provide a flexible and credible alternative to the four-year high school diploma and to the New York State Equivalency Diploma. The external diploma ordinarily would be…

A preliminary examination of two approaches adopted in California to address the high school dropout problem is presented. Focus is on comparing aggregate impacts of State Bill (SB) 65 and of California Local Educational Reform Network (C-LERN) approaches to high school dropout reduction and prevention between 1985-86 and 1987-88. Four groups of…

The 3 year study investigated four New York programs in which junior and senior high school students enrolled in schools for the deaf were mainstreamed into occupational education courses at neighboring education centers. Data were collected on philosophical views toward career education, information and decision making functions, individual…

The Middle College High School (MCHS) in Tennessee is an alternative school located on the Shelby State Community College (SSCC) campus, designed to provide special counseling, college preparation, and access to SSCC facilities for potential high school dropouts who have the capacity for secondary and postsecondary success. The program, which was…

The objectives of this study were to: (1) compare perceptions of administrators, school board members, students, and vocational agriculture teachers concerning the vocational agriculture programs in Mississippi, (2) determine program strengths and weaknesses in order to improve present programs and plan future ones for Mississippi, and (3) provide…