This paper looked at educational realities faced by middle managers within the growing number of Free Schools in England. Heads of Physical Education (HoPE), key policy actors within the middle tier of school management, have had to contend with performative pressures resulting from limited resources made available to run both curricular and…

These technical appendices are for the report, "English as a Second Language at California's Community Colleges: An Early Examination of AB 705 Reforms." Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705 Irwin) sought to increase successful completion of transfer-level math and English courses by addressing systemic problems in traditional placement policies…

Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest partnered with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) to examine Arkansas's middle and high school indicators of postsecondary readiness and success, building on an earlier study of these indicators (Hester et al., 2021). Academic indicators include attaining proficiency on state achievement tests,…

Department chairs occupy a potentially important leadership position in high schools, yet little is known about them, particularly with regard to who they are and how they compare to other high school teachers. This is surprising given growing expectations for distributed leadership practice in schools. In this study, I utilize a national dataset…

In the context of "academic momentum," a longitudinal study of university students (N = 904) showed high school achievement and ongoing university achievement predicted subsequent achievement through university. However, the impact of high school achievement diminished, while additive effects of ongoing university achievement continued.…

An early warning system is a data-based tool that helps predict which students are on the right path towards eventual graduation or other grade-appropriate goals. Through such systems, stakeholders at the school and district levels can view data from a wide range of perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of student data. This "Statewide…

American educators are achieving much success in their efforts to enable a wider and more diverse group of U.S. students than ever before to succeed in college-level studies in high school. Yet individuals must also gaze clear-eyed at the inequities that remain and the challenges that accompany success in expanding access to the Advanced Placement…

As individuals celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Advanced Placement Program[R] (AP[R]) in U.S. schools, they should honor the educators who are enabling a wider and more diverse group of U.S. students than ever before to succeed in college-level studies in high school. Yet they must also gaze clear-eyed at the inequities that remain and…

As the fiftieth anniversary of the Advanced Placement Program[R] (AP[R]) in U.S. schools approaches, it is the right time to issue the first "Advanced Placement Report to the Nation." This report uses a combination of state, national, and AP Program data in new ways to provide each U.S. state with a context for celebrating its successes,…