The process of accreditation review in the U.S. serves two primary functions: quality assurance and continual improvement. The experienced educators who voluntarily serve on accreditation teams apply common standards of quality that serve students and meet public accountability expectations and offer suggestions and recommendations for…

This report describes the best practices described by national experts, some of the actions that are currently being taken by Colorado institutions of higher education and recommendations for improving programs to retain and graduate minority and low-income students. Over the course of the taskforce's meetings, it became clear that Colorado's…

A study compared graduation and licensure examination pass rates of Mexican American nursing students who spoke English as a second language and students who spoke English as a first language. Mexican American students were surveyed or interviewed concerning the effect on graduation and licensure examination pass rates of English as a second…

In the 50 years since "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka" formally desegregated public schools, there has been enormous progress in the academic success of African Americans, particularly in high school completion, improved test scores, increased college enrollment, and attainment of advanced degrees, as well as full access to and…

Using data on 11,000 graduate students from 100 departments over a 20 year period, I test whether graduate student outcomes (graduation rates, time to degree, publication success, and initial job placement) differ based on a student's gender and marital status. I find that married men have better outcomes across every measure than single men.…

The improvement of literacy rates, educational levels, and college-going rates are important goals for the betterment of West Virginia and its economy. The college going rate echoes the successes of the Governor, legislators, government agencies, students, and parents in contributing to the State's education system as a whole. This report makes an…

This study examines the retention of vocational education graduates in public higher education. Using 2,172 students who graduated vocational education programs in Area Vocational Technical Schools and enrolled as freshman (first-time young students) in public two-year and four-year colleges and universities in the 1996 fall semester, the author…

This is a study of high schools and their districts receiving Comprehensive School Reform (CSR) grants that have used those grants to support implementation of the Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) model. Over a 4-year period 10 such high schools in 5 districts have been examined to determine if schoolwide or district-wide…

This publication provides a closer look at data reported annually by South Carolina's public institutions of higher education as part of institutional effectiveness reporting and as part of the process of performance funding. Prior to the January 2000 edition, this document was entitled "Minding Our P's and Q's: Indications of Productivity…

The purpose of the study was to explore the academic careers of students who took AP Exams and to compare their careers with those who did not take AP Exams. For most AP Exams, students with AP grades of 3 or better had higher grade averages in intermediate college courses than did non-AP students who first took an introductory course. Two…

The Biology Intensive Orientation for Students (BIOS) Program was designed to assess the impact of a 5-d intensive prefreshman program on success and retention of biological science majors at Louisiana State University. The 2005 pilot program combined content lectures and examinations for BIOL 1201, Introductory Biology for Science Majors, as well…

This document, from the Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC), reports the educational achievement of minority students in Arizona, from kindergarten through college. As a snapshot it is simply a description of what is, and the data are, thus, open to interpretation. How the numbers look and what they mean may be two different…

This report presents information for parents, students, staff, policymakers, and the general public on the quality and performance of public higher education in West Virginia. Chapters display numerous indicators addressing various aspects of higher education: preparation; participation; affordability; workforce development and education outcomes.…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Show Me the Money: Alliance Analysis Finds That States Could Generate Millions More in Wages by Raising High School…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Achieve and NGA Host National Education Summit on High Schools: Governors, Educators, and Business Leaders Meet to Discuss High…