This study solicited perspectives of underserved youth and educators who serve them regarding college and career readiness. We defined underserved youth as adolescents who experience inequitable access to educational resources. Purposeful sampling was used to select 84 focus group participants including educators and students (9-12th grade).…

The critical role of the educational sector in improving and reforming society and the world has aroused the interest of governments and agencies to exert substantial financial resources to reduce the financial burden of parents in educating children and attaining a holistic approach to national development. This paper evaluates the impact of…

This history examines the relationship between 21st century early college high schools and a longer tradition of adolescents attending college, uncovering powerful roots, distinctive breaks, and reforged alliances. Why did these schools, designed so students earn up to an associate's degree before graduation, come into being when and where they…

This brief, the third in a series produced by the California College Promise Project (CCPP) at WestEd, describes research conducted by the CCPP on the relationship between the 2017 legislation "Community Colleges: California College Promise" (AB19) and the structure of local College Promise programs. The analysis examines College Promise…

Ghana is one of the few countries with prior cost-sharing funding approaches to upper secondary education to have rolled out a completely free upper secondary education policy. Whilst the empirical foundation of the emerging body of studies on the policy includes policy makers, implementers and a reliance on policy documents, the perspectives of…

This paper examines the long-term impact of the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) on postsecondary education outcomes, with a focus on historically underserved students. MERA aimed to improve educational standards and close achievement gaps through the introduction of MCAS,…

The adult outcomes of youth with disabilities continue to lag behind those of their peers without disabilities, especially for youth living in rural communities. Interdisciplinary teaming is identified as an important component of effective transition planning. Transition planning and collaborative teaming are challenged further in rural…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 2004 outlined a series of mandates for special education teachers. Specifically, they must develop activities that promote skills to help their students become successful in adulthood. These activities became an additional requirement that needed to be navigated by special education staff,…

Approximately 4.2 million youth and young adults experience homelessness on their own every year. These young people -- referred to as "unaccompanied homeless youth" under federal education law -- face unique barriers to accessing and completing higher education. Unaccompanied homeless youth are not living with, or supported by, a parent…

In response to requirements of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), Maine enacted a rule requiring all schools to have a multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) in place by 2012 for a general education, pre-referral system of student support. The purpose of this system, generally termed Response to Intervention (RtI) by…

Texas House Bill 3 established a college, career, and military readiness (CCMR) outcomes bonus, which provides extra funding to districts for each annual graduate demonstrating CCMR under the state accountability system. Some small district and rural district leaders expressed concern about the ability of their graduates to meet the career…

Statewide testing with college admissions exams dates to 2001, when Colorado and Illinois introduced the practice. Such testing expanded in subsequent years, and beginning in 2017--2018, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) allowed states to use a college admissions exam to meet accountability requirements for high schools. Some see this option…

Historically, adults with disabilities experience fewer positive lifelong outcomes than peers without a disability. This trend expands decades, despite changes in educational laws designed to improve postsecondary outcomes for those with a disability. Laws to improve outcomes have included the IDEIA, NCLB, and ESSA. This study was designed to…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) stress the need for all students to receive excellent science instruction--including those with disabilities--based upon disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and science and engineering practices (NGSS Lead States 2013). Further, the NGSS emphasize reducing disparities in student…

Ten high school special education teachers were interviewed on their perceptions of the process in place for transitioning students with mild to moderate autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In many cases, it was determined that although through individual education plans (IEP), students with mild to moderate ASD were provided accommodations and…