This study explores how the college-going culture at a no-excuses charter school with high college enrollment rates shaped students' worldviews and trajectories. Drawing on 7 months of ethnographic fieldwork, I found that the school boosted college enrollment through student compliance to the college accountability policies rather than through the…

A defining characteristic of mixed methods research, integration receives considerable attention in the field, yet evidence suggests that the process of integration may be challenging in practice. Crossover analyses, in which methods typically used with one data type are applied to a different data type, can deepen integration. Using an example…

Social and emotional (SE) skills are known to be linked with many important life outcomes, including academic performance, performance on standardized college entrance exams, and college enrollment, although research on enrollment is limited. In this report, the authors present data points from a study that evaluated test-criterion validity…

This study used a qualitative design featuring narrative inquiry to explore the systemic challenges in child welfare and education systems that affect the K-12 and college educational outcomes of former foster youth. The study took on an asset-based perspective to elevate the voices of foster youth. The methods involved conducting semi-structured…

In recent years, multiple-measures teaching evaluation systems have become widespread in states and school districts around the United States. Using administrative data from Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) and the National Student Clearinghouse, we examine the relationship between exposure to different ratings of teaching effectiveness in high…

This study extends prior work on the college-going efforts of Latino boys and adolescents (Latinos) by examining the extent to which meeting with a school counselor is related to their college-going aspirations and whether they apply to and ultimately matriculate to college. The study utilizes social capital and social reproduction theories to…

We study the effects of the COVID pandemic on educational attainment. By 2022, entry into two-year colleges was 21 percent lower than before the pandemic, with larger declines in Black- and Hispanic-majority colleges. Four-year college entry declined by only 6 percent and then rebounded 4 percent. High school graduation reached an all-time high in…

This study explores challenges faced by young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families enrolling in inclusive postsecondary education (IPSE) programs during COVID-19. The benefits of attending IPSE programs are well-documented, but this group is disadvantaged accessing postsecondary education and employment.…

Undocumented children have a right to a public k-12 education in the United States, however there is no standard approach to higher education. About half of states allow undocumented immigrants to attend public colleges and universities at in-state rates of tuition (ISRT) and a subset of these also allow them access to state financial aid. This…

College counseling has become an increasingly significant part of high school counselors' jobs, but too often, they focus primarily on college access, without paying attention to whether students are choosing the appropriate college for them. Gorana Ilic, James Rosenbaum, Isabelle Matthies, and Lynn Meissner interviewed counselors to better…

This report examines the extent to which student characteristics, achievement, and postsecondary plans can predict the likelihood of college attendance. The report compares students' self-reported plans in Spring 2019 with subsequent college attendance through the 2019-2020 school year. The postsecondary plans used in this report are obtained from…

Dual enrollment (DE) is one of the fastest growing programs that support the high school-to-college transition. Yet, there is limited empirical evidence about its impact on either students' college application choices or admission outcomes. Using a fuzzy regression discontinuity approach and data from two cohorts of ninth-grade students in one…

Background/Context: Parents and policymakers have long believed that some schools are more effective than others. State testing requirements under No Child Left Behind helped publicize the widely understood fact that schools differ substantially in their students average test scores and treated such scores as key proxies for school quality. More…

Recent research suggests that the college application process itself prevents access. This paper reports results from a school-based experiment in which application assistance is incorporated into the high school curriculum for all graduating seniors at low-transition schools. Over three workshops, students were guided to pick programs of interest…

The purpose of this quantitative research study was to focus on student enrollment in courses taught in the areas of construction, manufacturing, and transportation in Indiana high schools, regional vocational centers, and community colleges. High school data were taken from the 2008-2009 to the 2017-2018 school year and every year between.…