Transition: High School to College

This practice-based literature review from the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC) provides a summary of research, from the past 20 years, that examines the impact of functional/life skills curricular interventions on high school-aged students with disabilities. Findings provide tentative support for the impact of these interventions on transition-related outcomes. Implications for practice are discussed.

This report from the National High School Center outlines steps that schools can take to identify at-risk students and provide the necessary support systems and relevant interventions to assist students in obtaining a high school diploma. Further, the report discusses the use of early warning data systems to target interventions for groups and individual students, offers a variety of best practice approaches undertaken by higher-performing high schools, and presents effective programs that are currently being implemented to stem the dropout problem.

This policy brief released by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability at the Institute for Educational Leadership identifies five broad policy and practice areas critical to ensuring all students--and especially those with disabilities--are prepared to succeed in high school and in their post-secondary careers. The brief makes 14 recommendations spread across the five areas and provides suggestions on what organizations can support these recommendations.

This white paper from Jobs for the Future provides state-level policymakers with a framework for raising graduation rates in their states. The five commitments offered in this piece are: 1) A High School Diploma That Signifies College and Work-Readiness, 2) Pathways to High School Graduation and College for Overage, Undercredited, and Out-of-School Youth, 3) Turnaround of Low-performing High Schools, 4) Increased Emphasis on Graduation Rates and College-Readiness in Next Generation Accountability, and 5) Early and Continuous Support for Struggling Students.

This research synthesis from the Comprehensive School Reform Quality (CSRQ) Center reviewed the research on middle and high school comprehensive school reform (CSR) models. Different CSR models are described and the research evaluating these models is examined across several areas, including impact on student achievement, overall and by subject; effects for diverse populations; and other outcomes, such as parent, family, and community involvement; and services and support provided to schools to enable successful implementation.

This study examines the impact of the AVID model being implemented in ten high schools in five Texas districts, over a 4-year period. Each school and district was matched on student demographic variables, student enrollment patterns and accountability ratings.

This report sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) explores state statutes and policies related to dual enrollment. The authors present a state-by-state snapshot of policies and programs based on several programmatic features. This is an update to the 2004 report.

This issue brief from the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) discusses the role that career and technical education (CTE) programs have in helping students successfully transition from secondary to postsecondary education. The authors begin by noting the statistics on students who make the transition from high school to college and those who actually complete a postsecondary degree.

In this report from Jobs for the Future, the authors discuss examples of states that developed policies and strategies to support schools integrating high school and postsecondary education. The report looks at case studies from four states--Ohio and Utah that implemented fiscal policies, and Georgia and Texas that focused on alignment issues across high school and college--and provides lessons for educators and policymakers looking to support and sustain early college high schools in their states.

This study from MDRC uses a large-scale, multisite, experimental design to determine the effects of Career Academies on a range of student educational, developmental, and work-related outcomes, including student achievement and student engagement. This report provides information on the implementation of Career Academies.