Curriculum

This report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce details the importance of preparing students for future careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The report describes the economic benefits of training for a STEM career as well as current barriers that divert students from the fields. Though the majority of the report focuses on post-secondary outcomes, it also makes the case that STEM careers are the most economically beneficial for those with only a high school diploma.

This study examines if participation in the Advanced Placement (AP) program predicts early college grades and retention. Second year retention and first semester grade point average data of a sample of 28,000 Texas high school students who attended public universities were used. It was found that there is no evidence that the average student is positively affected from AP participation more so than a non-AP curriculum strong in math and science.

This study examines the extent to which Advanced Placement (AP) and other honors-level courses taken in high school play a role in student’s performance in college. Data from a sample of 81,445 freshmen entering the University of California were examined. It was determined that the number of AP and honors courses taken in high school has little to no relationship to students’ performance in college.

The College and Career Development Organizer was created to synthesize and organize the field of college and career readiness initiatives. The organizer can be used to map the efforts of state educational agencies (SEAs) and local education agencies (LEAs) as well as the many organizations researching and providing support for college and career readiness. The organizer can also be used as a set of building blocks to help users develop college and career readiness strategies and initiatives to address student needs.

This report describes the Keeping Options Open program, a collaborative partnership between Johnson County Community College and Johnson County high schools that help students develop career and life plans. This three-year tiered pilot program for parents and students intends to link academic readiness with career development. The program led to communication among school counselors and parents.

This study provides descriptive statistics about Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in Tennessee high schools. The study used school-level data, including both regular and special education graduates in more than 300 schools. The report identified a discrepancy between the distribution of students across CTE education areas and the extent to which those areas correspond to high demand high wage occupations.

This report, sponsored by Digital Learning Now, identifies 72 measures that state policy makers should incorporate into their state policy in order to facilitate high quality digital learning for all students. The authors stress the importance of providing all students access to digital forms of learning, including virtual and blended learning, using digital learning to provide personalized learning trajectories, and providing quality content, instruction and choices through digital learning.

This report from the California Dropout Research Project discusses the improvement of high school outcomes by combining career-technical education (CTE) with college preparatory coursework in the curriculum. The author examines the effects of three approaches - like career academies or career-technical sequences - to this curriculum on high school students, and recommends that efforts to combining the curriculum should continue to develop despite implementation difficulties and uncertainty surrounding the effectiveness.

This report from the National Center on Time & Learning discusses key practices in optimizing increased learning time. The authors surveyed 30 high-performing schools, including 11 high schools, with longer school days and/or years and identified eight “powerful practices” of using increased learning time to improve student performance and engagement. The report provides case study illustrations to show school-level implementation for each of the eight practices.

This report from <i>American Educator</i> discusses five features of successful early college high schools (ECHS). The authors examine the effects of these five features on high school educators, college educators and students, and provide recommendations that include providing a packaged curriculum, and proactively monitoring and guiding students, among others. This resource may be especially relevant to district administrators and teachers looking at way to improve disadvantaged students’ transition to college within their districts or classrooms.