Transitioning from high school to college can be a formidable challenge, especially for students who are the first in their family to attend college (first-generation) and/or are from low-income backgrounds. The authors' qualitative investigation of a college mentoring program illuminates the potential value of relatable peer mentors in helping…

More than 6 million young people in the United States are out of school, out of work, and, often it seems, out of luck. That's 17 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24. This population includes dropouts and high school graduates, former foster children and juveniles in court custody; youth caring for siblings and teens cycling in and…

In the United States, our children face a number of factors that influence their behavior. Children's peers, parents and even the media, especially television, heavily influence students. Because of these influences, it can be difficult to motivate students in the classroom to strive for and achieve success. The purpose of this article is to…

The Accelerating Opportunity initiative helps our nation's lowest-skilled adults earn college credentials and enter higher-wage jobs faster by combining the Adult Basic Education and career and technical training they need into one integrated curriculum. Based on four years of designing and managing Accelerating Opportunity, Jobs for the Future…

Community colleges have been engaged for the last sixty years in providing open access to public higher education to anyone with a high school diploma. Recently, disappointing success rates for developmental students have driven some colleges to reduce or restrict access to college based on standardized test scores. The operative phrase in most of…

Southern Cross University (SCU) has established a pathways college to increase access to and widen participation in higher education for people in regional areas of Australia. While many Australian universities have preparatory colleges associated with them, SCU College has been designed to make it unique in the sector. SCU College will operate…

Education in today's world is very challenging. From concerns over the funding of career and technical education (CTE) to discussions about the achievement gap and dropout prevention, to debates about what it means to be college- and career-ready, the role of CTE in educational reform paradoxically is both at the forefront and on the backburner of…

Less than 100 years ago, only 16.8 percent of all 17-year olds in the U.S. had graduated from high school. At the same time, less than 5 percent of those 18-24 years old was enrolled in higher education. The K-12 and higher education systems rapidly expanded over the next century to accommodate larger and larger portions of the population, but…

Should remediation in higher education be ended? A recent report from Complete College America says exactly that. The authors call for all public institutions of higher education in the United States to stop offering it and instead ensure that students who need extra help take co-requisite requirements, such as extra tutoring. Their…

Self-determination is essential to promoting successful transitions for students with and without disabilities. Numerous studies have found that positive relationships are central to the ability to be self-determined, thus making relationship building a key area to address to promote successful transitions. This article provides information on…

In the fall of 2008, the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) commissioned a research study comparing the college access provider resources in Virginia to the access and academic achievement needs of the state. That study--conducted by researchers from the College of William and Mary and West Carolina University--resulted in the…

For many English language learners, the endgame isn't passing state exams--it's attending and graduating from college. Yet schools often focus on a lower target: proficiency. To support the transition of English language learners to postsecondary success, schools should create formal transition plans, provide differentiated guidance, focus on…

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…

Students with learning disabilities (LD) are particularly vulnerable in making the school-to-college transition where they negotiate a complex constellation of challenges that include academic demands, social expectations, and emotional/personal growth. Although a substantial body of knowledge exists about college students with LD, it is largely…

Although career and technical education (CTE) Programs of Study (POS) were introduced in the Perkins IV legislation, neither the spirit nor the elements of POS are new in the history of CTE as a vehicle for high school reform. POS have evolved over several decades of efforts to create effective transition programs from secondary to postsecondary…