As faculty continue to become generations removed from production agriculture, it may be difficult for some instructors to determine the production experience of students in their classrooms. This presents a unique issue in the broader field of agriculture education across disciplines in areas such as curriculum development and teaching…

This report describes some surprising shifts in regional achievement patterns in Illinois public schools under NCLB. These shifts show worrisome declines in many communities that were not the original focus of NCLB, and promising growth in some communities where evidence presented shows changes in school effectiveness. What schools and districts…

Most students finish high school with low levels of financial knowledge, yet they are months away from important decisions about how to finance college. Students may not know about family finances, even though parental income is a key determinant of financial aid for college. This study measures the financial knowledge of high school students by…

Given that independent schools have started to face competition from charter schools, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) commissioned a study with current and prospective charter school parents to determine their perceptions of charter vs. independent schools, assess the relative impact of the variables that affect their school…

There are currently 2 principal models of publicly funded prekindergarten programs (pre-K): targeted pre-K, which is means-tested, and universal pre-K. These programs often differ in terms of the economic characteristics of the preschoolers enrolled. Studies have documented links between individual achievement in school-age children and the…

The Race to the Top - Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, authorized by Congress in 2011, is designed to improve the quality of early learning and development programs for children from birth through age 5. This discretionary grant program is administered jointly by the U.S. Departments of Education (ED) and Health and Human Services…

Illinois education policymakers have adopted the completion agenda that emphasizes increasing postsecondary credential attainment. Meeting completion agenda goals necessitates addressing the achievement gap. To aid in developing policy to support improved completion, this study analyzes a comprehensive statewide dataset of the 2003 Illinois high…

This is a summary of a presentation to the Assembly Higher Education Committee on college fee and total cost comparisons of California public universities with comparator universities in other states. This summary also includes grant award estimates and net cost of college by family income.

In the United States, approximately 65 percent of all jobs in 2020 will require some level of postsecondary education, and the demand will reach 70 percent in Illinois. This report seeks to inform public discourse on higher education by providing key performance indicators relevant to the goal of improving educational attainment for a healthy…

In the United States, approximately 65 percent of all jobs in 2020 will require some level of postsecondary education, and the demand will reach 68 percent in Iowa. This report seeks to inform public discourse on higher education by providing key performance indicators relevant to the goal of improving educational attainment for a healthy economy…

This study presents longitudinal description of the association between college readiness--as measured by college readiness benchmarks set by the ACT--and a series of postsecondary outcomes of the Illinois High School Class of 2003. In addition to describing how college readiness is distributed among the cohort, this study establishes the college…

The focus of this report is to describe the diverse, potentially overlapping range of student outcomes for community college entrants, such as vertical transfer, earning an associate degree, or earning a certificate while taking into consideration differences in college readiness as well as other student characteristics. (Contains 5 figures, 7…

National and international reports have established the legitimate use of child savings accounts (CSAs) as asset-building vehicles for youths. However, many U.S. programs report difficulty in recruiting parents for CSA programs and note the failure of some parents to take full advantage of the financial match available when they do participate.…

National and regional trends mask important variation among states in the supply of high school graduates. This profile provides brief indicators for Illinois related to: current levels of educational attainment, projections of high school graduates into the future, and two common barriers to student access and success--insufficient academic…

We tested the cost-effectiveness of giving low-income parents childcare discounts contingent on their participation in the Chicago Parent Program, a 12-session preventive parent training (PT) program offered at their child's daycare center. Eight centers were matched and randomized to an experimental condition in which parents received a discount…