In the context of higher education institutional practice, a "hold" is defined as a means an institution may employ to prevent a student from completing an action, such as registering for a class or accessing an official transcript. Holds are most often used as an attempt to motivate a student to take an action sought by the institution.…

Since 1983, policymakers and politicians have worked to stave off a perceived decline in the academic preparation of American students. Stubbornly low scores on international exams and signs that many U.S. graduates are ill-equipped for college and the workforce have lent urgency to this perception, and many states have made high-school graduation…

Multiple measures provide additional evidence a student may present, beyond an assessment score, that can indicate college readiness. This resource provides data on multiple measures that may be allowed to determine placement using the following categories: (1) other standardized and normed exams, or locally developed exams; (2) high school…

This paper reports on the findings in the first phase of a design-based research project as part of a large-scale intervention study in Dutch kindergartens. The project aims at enhancing differentiated instruction and evaluating its effects on children's development, in particular high-ability children. This study investigates relevant…

In this paper, we examine the effects of receiving a modest Pell Grant on financial aid packages, labor supply while in school, and academic outcomes for community college students. Using administrative data from one state, we compare community college students just above and below the expected family contribution (EFC) cutoff for receiving a Pell…

This document was designed as a companion to the full report entitled "The Impact of Pell Grant Eligibility on Community College Students' Financial Aid Packages, Labor Supply, and Academic Outcomes." Provided here are the appendices to the full report as follows: (1) Methods for Choosing Optimal Bandwidths; (2) Gerard, Rokkanen, and…

Over the period 2010-14 more than 80 percent of public high school graduates in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands were placed in non-credit-bearing developmental English courses and more than 92 percent were placed in developmental math courses when they enrolled at Northern Marianas College, the commonwealth's only public…

This multi-method case study of a Greek vocational school explored teachers' culture (including beliefs about education, teachers' role, and students' nature) using the concept of pupil control ideology to explain problems of disengagement and low morale among staff and students, as well as tensions in relationships. A prominent custodial culture…

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand how community college students assess the risks and rewards of using personal loans to achieve their higher education goals. Method: Interviews were conducted with 12 federal loan borrowers attending a large, urban community college in Texas during the Spring 2013 semester. Results: Findings…

The federal government invests billions of dollars in grants and loans to help students access and complete postsecondary education. Federal policymakers, therefore, have had a continuing interest in understanding the ability of students to transfer credits between postsecondary institutions. In 2005, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and…

The focus of this research is to evaluate the relationship between advanced high school science courses and college outcomes, with a focus on the benefit of Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) participation and performance in comparison to other high school options (e.g., dual enrollment, honors, and regular science high school courses). Although…

The summer school sessions that colleges offer their undergraduates are sometimes considered supplementary activities and are rarely perceived as central to a college's mission or effectiveness. However, analyses of college transcript data that tracked a nationally-representative sample of undergraduates for several years and through multiple…

This First Look introduces new data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, collected in 2013 when most sample members were recent high school graduates, and in 2014 from the high school transcripts of students who were freshmen in 2009. The analyses examine students' high school completion status; plans for postsecondary enrollment and…

This research examines the effect of undergraduate course letter grades on future course selection and major choice. Using a Regression-Discontinuity design, we exploit the fact that the probability of earning a particular letter grade jumps discontinuously around letter grade cutoffs. This variation in letter grades allows us to isolate the…

The purpose of this article was to explore student participation patterns in online discussion boards related to their characteristics and question types. The characteristics of students enrolled in an online course and the impact of types of discussion questions on student posts were examined. During the 16 weeks of a course, the participation…