College: 2-year

This study analyzes four different English language arts college readiness standards sets to determine the alignment of content and standards statements in three comparison sets to a benchmark set, and examines the cognitive complexity of all of the sets. Approximately 5 percent of the benchmark statements align with content in all three comparison sets. 53-68 percent of statements in the four sets were rated level 3 on a four-level cognitive complexity scale.

This study examined the effects of the Comprehensive Intervention Programs (CIP) on students’ preparedness for college by reviewing their reading and mathematics abilities. CIP provided a variety of activities and services intended to increase success in postsecondary education. Sixth grade students were tracked over a period of two years. The study did not find statistically significant program effects on CIP students’ standardized test scores in reading and math.

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 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.

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 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 report provides information on student levels of college and career readiness across the United States based on their performance on the ACT. In addition to showing performance on ACT-related college and career readiness metrics and trends in performance over time, the report provides recommendations to states, districts, and schools to help increase college and career readiness.

This report provides information on transition services for students with disabilities as they moved toward postsecondary pathways. Four federal agencies, the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, and Labor, and the Social Security Administration all provide transition services, but these efforts are not well-coordinated around a common goal.