Urban colleges and universities not only have a responsibility to engage in activities designed to improve the educational attainment of local urban youth, but also have extensive financial, human, intellectual, and organizational resources that may be directed productively toward this purpose. This article describes the multipronged approach that…

The CollegeKeys Compact[TM] is a national call to action to school districts, colleges and universities, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations to identify, share and expand programs and practices that address the needs and challenges of low-income students and help them get ready for, get into and get through college. The College…

This mixed-method study identifies cyber high school graduates' perceptions of the effect of a cyber high school education on successful transition to a traditional university. The study examined students' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages their cyber education experience contributed to their academic and social transition to…

Career academies, after more than four decades of development and three decades of evaluation, have been found by a conclusive random assignment study to be effective in improving outcomes for students during and after high school. Career academies have therefore become the most durable and best-tested component of a high school reform strategy to…

This report highlights the ongoing discussions between the believers of "online learning" vs. the "not enough proven research" for K-8 cyber schooling. Discussing successful processes and operations in states around the country, the author focuses on Maryland and, in particular, Baltimore schools, and reports that very little…

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…

"Talent Development High Schools" is a school reform model for restructuring large high schools with persistent attendance and discipline problems, poor student achievement, and high dropout rates. The model includes both structural and curriculum reforms. It calls for schools to reorganize into small "learning…

This article reports how Kaplan K12 Learning Services Group, a division of Kaplan Inc., has developed a new, standardized college-preparatory curriculum for the Philadelphia school district. The curriculum, which made its debut in the Philadelphia district in 2005, was a critical element in the district leadership's plan to improve secondary…

In the first decade of the 21st century, the nation, the states, and colleges and universities began to grapple with the challenges of globalization, changing demography, the implications of the digital era, and of a less expansive public sector. Although not a transformative period for higher education, the decade saw significant innovations in…

Catholic high schools in Chicago came onto the educational landscape in significant number in the 1920s, a critical time period in American educational history. In an era focused on efficiency and compulsory schooling, Catholic high schools organized themselves to meet the legal statutes affecting them directly and those that would govern their…

To garner student perceptions, a questionnaire listing questions for math, science, and foreign language was sent to the 1997, 1996, and 1995 graduates of two Pennsylvania high schools that had implemented the 4X4 semester-block-scheduling model. Overall, students felt their block-scheduled high school prepared them adequately for college. (MLH)

This report examines the factors that influence the postsecondary enrollment and persistence of rural Pennsylvania students, compared to students from urban and suburban areas. The National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 provided data on 216 rural, 103 urban, and 323 suburban high school graduates from Pennsylvania. Depending on their status…

Describes the objectives, design, and implementation of the Lancaster Partnership Program, involving the Lancaster City School District (Pennsylvania), Millersville University, and three local corporations in efforts to increase the participation rate in higher education of Latino and African American high school students. Efforts focused on…