Many community college students start college in developmental education and leave before enrolling in college-level coursework or making much progress toward a degree; thus, developmental education courses represent the primary education these students receive. Using student-unit record data from two large community college systems linked to wage…

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) and the Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC) of the State Board of Education are working on a new teacher licensure pathways proposal, Pathways to Excellence for Teaching Professionals (Model). This proposal, if enacted, would restructure the state's system…

Public school teaching is a profession in transition. Already the largest occupation in the United States, it is expanding faster than the nation's student population. Teachers of color are entering the profession at twice the rate of white teachers, reversing an exodus after civil rights victories opened many other doors to African Americans. And…

This study uses detailed administrative data on teachers and students from the state of North Carolina to revisit the empirical evidence on master's degrees, with attention to teachers at the middle and high school levels. It provides descriptive information on which types of teachers obtain master's degrees, for which subjects, at which…

In this paper, the authors examine the relative labor market gains for first-time college students who enrolled in the North Carolina Community College System in 2002-03. The medium-term returns to diplomas, certificates, and degrees are compared with returns for students who accumulated college credits but did not graduate. The authors also…

The extent to which community college students experience labor market success depends on both the attributes of the individual students and the characteristics of the community colleges they attend. In this paper, we examine the impact of community college characteristics on the earnings of first-time college students who enrolled in the North…

We use North Carolina data to explore the extent to which teachers in the lower grades (K-2) of elementary school are lower quality than in the upper grades (3-5) and to examine the hypothesis that accountability contributes to a shortfall in teacher quality in the lower grades. Our concern with early elementary grades arises from recent studies…

During fiscal year (FY) 1993, North Carolina's Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services expended $76.2 million to provide vocational rehabilitation (VR) services to 59,821 North Carolinians. These VR services were delivered by 378 caseload-carrying counselors and their required administrative support in 32 unit offices. Of 13,781 persons…