Curriculum

This report from Jobs for the Future highlights successful practices from North Carolina’s early college high schools. The report examines the effects these practices have had on students successfully completing the schools’ requirements. Successful practices include collaborative group work, literacy groups, and classroom conversations, among others.

This report discusses barriers to high school graduation rates and college readiness for Latinas. The author examines the challenges facing Latinos to achieve a high school degree and continuing on to higher education. The resource provides recommendations for federal, state, and local policy makers including additional funding, providing mentors, and ensuring that the school environment is culturally inclusive.

This report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities discusses the educational attainment of students with learning disabilities. The author examines the effects of learning disabilities on students within the K-12 system with a focus on the struggle to attain grade level standards and graduation rate and provides recommendations that include transition planning activities and the use of technology to support students with learning disabilities.

This MDRC resource provides an overview of the College Match Program which has been designed to support students who may not plan to attend college or may plan to attend a less competitive (academically) college, and who are prepared for college. The program is designed to support students who may not have resources of parents/households with information about college and particularly how to make decisions about the best college that fits students needs (academically, financially and socially).

This article presents a four-year case study on the impact that an urban college preparatory charter high school had on the postsecondary outcomes of its graduates. Through analysis of staff and teacher interviews, the impact that logistical constraints and staff turnover had on the implementation of the school’s mission to prepare educationally and socially disadvantaged students for college was revealed.

This study uses a national sample of students in sixth and ninth grade to determine how students perceive the utility of schooling for career development. Students demonstrated little awareness of the relationship between work and school, skills and knowledge required of them and learning opportunities at their disposal. In addition, students found extracurricular activities to be more important to their future careers than academic activities.

This study examined the effects of information about government support programs for college financial aid. H&R Block provided assistance with completing the federal application for financial aid (FAFSA) and information on eligibility for government aid and local postsecondary options to a randomly selected sample of low to moderate income families. Another randomly selected sample received only personalized aid eligibility information and no assistance with the FAFSA.

This evaluation of Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) showed statistically significant differences between AVID and comparison students on measures of enrollment in eighth grade algebra, language arts grades, school absences, and college attendance, favoring AVID students.

This study evaluates what types of services, programs and providers are needed in Virginia to increase student access to postsecondary education. This report highlights the resources available by examining statistics, maps, figure and case-narratives, areas where progress is being made and college access roadblocks encountered. A detailed illustration which includes technical information is also described.

This study evaluates the EXCEL program, a college access program, which promotes underrepresented youth attending a higher education institution by guaranteeing a scholarship to a sponsoring university and providing various enrichment activities. Eighty-three eighth grade students with a GPA of B and above and standardized test scores at grade level or above were randomly assigned to attend EXCEL or to a control group. Results revealed that students involved in the program were not significantly more likely to attend college than students in the control group.