This study was conducted at a college in Ontario with a sample of students from the Game Development program for 5 intake years: 2014-2018, with the purpose of determining the validity of the Mathematics Diagnostic Test used to place 1st semester college students directly into an advanced math course (Math 10), or to leave them in the introductory…

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between motivation in high school and postsecondary enrollment among 10th-grade students whose parents did not go to college. Specifically, this study (1) identified distinct groups of students' self-reported reasons for attending schools among 10th graders, (2) examined whether these…

For the past 10 years, the Virtual Tournament of Chemistry, TVQ, has been held in Brazil, engaging high school students with challenging questions that require cooperation, effort, and a literature search, while exploring the advantages of the Internet as a tool for self-instruction. The tournament has worked both as a way of narrowing the gap…

College preparation is an important topic in the educational attainment of high school students. Much of the research on college planning focuses on the importance and timing of preparing for postsecondary education; however, little research has explored the steps students actually take while preparing for college. The current study utilized the…

Background/Context: College access programs aim to enhance students' college-going capital, which includes the "knowledge, skills, or dispositions" that support students' pathways to and through higher education (Means & Pyne, 2016, p. 391). While some college access programs aim to remedy students' "deficiencies" in…

This study predicts Latina/o student attrition at two phases in the college-going pipeline. Findings suggest that academic achievement mediates Latina/o students' attrition from expectations to college application. Preparatory commitment behaviors mediate attrition from application to attendance. Results also indicate that Latina/o students…

This article explores how college expectations in 8th grade change by 10th grade, and if students realize the expectations for a given level of college from 8th and 10th grade, in light of the "college for all" ethos. This study is based on administrative data from 235,875 public school students in Massachusetts from 2006 to 2016. Using…

Background/Context: High school mathematics attainment has significant consequences for postsecondary and labor market outcomes (Altonji, 1995; Dougherty et al., 2017; Goodman, 2019; Kim, 2018; Long et al., 2012) yet enrollment in advanced courses (i.e., those requiring completion of Algebra II) is starkly stratified by race, class, and ethnicity…

In response to the pervasive problem of making college more accessible to at-risk and underrepresented populations, the early college high school (ECHS) model has gained popularity. However, limited research exists on engineering-focused ECHSs (EECHS). Given the current demand for diverse and highly qualified engineers in the workforce, further…

Using structural equation modeling, the study tested a theoretical model linking family background, student attributes, and college success. The sample consisted of 346 students with learning disabilities (LDs) who enrolled in college between 2004 and 2012. The data were taken from the public files of the Education Longitudinal Study: 2002. The…

National trends and goals have pushed beyond the dropout crisis and are now focused on raising the percentage of graduates prepared for college and career. This study examined a longitudinal cohort (n = 6443) of students in an urban, public school district in order to explore how districts and communities can redirect off-track high school…

The persistently low college attainment rates of youth from poor families are partly attributable to their uncertainty about college affordability. The current federal financial aid system does not provide specific information about college costs until just before college enrollment and the information is only available to students completing a…

Introduction: Postsecondary remedial education is a major problem for Higher Education affecting retention rates, degree completion rates and cost of enrollment. Identification of students who are underprepared for managing the rigors of college and who would benefit from early intervention is necessary to reduce the need for postsecondary…

Research demonstrates that students' success in rigorous middle and high school math courses is positively associated with their admission to college, earnings later in life, and career prospects. The sequential nature of math course-taking, however, can create an opportunity structure that puts certain students at a disadvantage, specifically…

The purpose of this study is to identify the important constructs and their key indicators that are to be included on an instrument developed to measure the engineering design process and outcome of students in high schools that use the Project Lead the Way and Engineering by Design curriculums. Several pre-engineering curriculums are used in high…