Using institutional data on race-specific college enrollment and completion, I examine whether minority students were less likely to enroll in a four-year public college or receive a degree following a statewide affirmative action ban. As in previous studies, I find that black and Hispanic enrollment dropped at the top institutions; however, there…

Previously we showed how we measured pedagogy and revealed its association with learning outcomes of sixth-form college mathematics students. In this project we followed a similar approach to the study of university transition. We particularly sought to identify the students' perceptions of the transitional experience, and measure the association…

For young people entering the twenty-first-century job market, high school graduation is no longer the finish line, but the starting line. While one-third of students will fail to graduate from high school, too many students who do graduate and make it to the postsecondary starting line find that they are underprepared for postsecondary work. A…

In 2010, Jobs for the Future (JFF) contracted BTW "informing change" (BTW) to conduct a study on developmental education (DevEd) practices and policies in the state of Florida. This study was undertaken with two purposes. First, JFF wanted to see what common threads could be identified among the strategies and approaches of community…

Developmental education courses have become a standard in community colleges in the United States. An overwhelming majority of these public two-year schools offer developmental courses to a wide array of students. At the same time, developmental programs are under a constant barrage of attacks from a variety of stakeholder organizations that view…

In today's knowledge economy, both high school and university educators must ensure that students are equipped with the proficiencies needed to transition from high school to college and, ultimately, from college to the workplace. As librarians at Arizona State University (ASU), the authors sought to develop a local program that would support this…

Chilean educator and poet Gabriela Mistral warned that children's needs are immediate and comprise more than just academic concerns. Implementing comprehensive community schools is an increasingly successful approach to taking her warning to heart, particularly in neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. The reason is simple: education does…

Research in the past decade suggests that a persistent achievement gap between students from low-income minority backgrounds and higher-income white backgrounds may be rooted in theories of student motivation and youth purpose. Yet limited research exists regarding the role of purpose on positive youth development as it pertains to academic…

This article describes one assessment that provides a college- and career-ready individual for employers. In Illinois, workNet is the state's primary online workforce development Web site and resource for Workforce Investment Act services. With help from NOCTI, workNet offers assessments that identify the skills and interests of participants,…

This article presents an interview with Dr. Paul Nolting, a national expert in assessing individual math learning problems, developing effective student learning strategies, and assessing institutional variables that affect math success. Since his dissertation in 1986 on improving math success with study skills Dr. Nolting has consulted with over…

The Brooklyn College, City University of New York (CUNY), Search for Education Elevation and Knowledge (SEEK) Program, a higher education opportunity program, provides special assistance to students who are entering college for the first time. SEEK students are from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds, and receive financial support as well as…

An educational initiative that is receiving increased attention nationally is accelerated developmental education, and the Community College of Denver (CCD) is at the forefront of this reform activity. As part of CCD's portfolio of developmental education strategies, the accelerated program called FastStart has become an important vehicle for…

Although foster youth approaching the transition to adulthood have postsecondary educational aspirations similar to those of young people in the general population, for too many foster youth with these aspirations, a college education remains an unfulfilled dream. Previous analyses of data from the Midwest Evaluation of the Adult Functioning of…

This quantitative, causal-comparative study examined differences in success (GPA) and retention (enrollment in Spring 2007) between students who took and passed recommended developmental English or reading in the first semester of attendance and students who did not take or did not pass recommended developmental English or reading in the first…

This report is an in-depth case study of the Pathway to the Baccalaureate program at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). The purpose of the case study is to describe in vivid detail the struggles of nontraditional college students and to show one college's innovative ideas for assisting these students. The Pathway to the Baccalaureate…