The purpose of this study was to gain an understanding of the perceptions of underprepared college students who had participated in a first-year learning community at an urban, culturally diverse, commuter campus in the southeastern United States. Perceptions of graduates and those who earned at least 30 college-level credit hours were compared to…

This report is the ACT annual report on the progress of U.S. high school graduates relative to college readiness. This year's report shows that 64% of students in the 2016 US graduating class took the ACT test, up from 59% in 2015 and 49% in 2011. The increased number of test takers over the past several years enhances the breadth and depth of the…

Individuals respond to threats to affiliation and achievement needs through drawing on a repertoire of coping strategies specific to a given situation. Gifted adolescents in college-preparatory high school programs may be faced with novel stressors, and may have unique coping strategies to manage these challenges. The current study considers…

Problem: The present study examined whether incoming college student individuation from parents was associated with later well-being and adjustment to college. Method: Data were collected via online surveys with incoming college freshmen (during the summer or first week of class, follow-up three months later). Results: Analyses revealed that…

There has been little data collected on how much testing actually goes on in America's schools and how the results are used. So in the Spring of 2014, the Council staff developed and launched a survey of assessment practices. This report presents the findings from that survey and subsequent Council analysis and review of the data. It also offers…

At the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, governors from 45 states joined with business leaders and education officials to address a critical problem in American education: Too few students graduate from high school prepared for the demands of college and career in an increasingly competitive global economy. Since then, to monitor and…

The need for new forms of schooling with a learner-centered focus underlies the urgency to retool and enhance the systems that are used to leverage improvements in teaching and learning. In order to transform education at this most fundamental level, policy leaders and educators must focus on crafting integrated systems for defining and developing…

Increased student access to higher education institutions has been associated with the recent proliferation of higher education opportunities throughout the world. Various countries have undertaken numerous initiatives to increase access, such as the Netherlands with its involvement in the Bologna Process and the United States with Achieve Inc.'s…

This article profiles Lyn McNaught, who retired in 2004 after more than thirty-five years as a teacher and Director of the Horizons Student Enrichment Program. McNaught's legacy of community service remains with her successors and the benefactors who continue to support the growing Horizons educational programs in New Canaan, Connecticut, and…

In 2009, Excelencia in Education launched the Ensuring America's Future initiative to inform, organize, and engage leaders in a tactical plan to increase Latino college completion. An executive summary of Latino College Completion in 50 states synthesizes information on 50 state factsheets and builds on the national benchmarking guide. Each…

In the modern economy, a college degree has become the gateway to the middle class. Nearly 75 percent of future jobs will require a postsecondary degree or certificate, and many of these job openings will be in middle-skill professions that require more than a high school degree but less than a four-year college degree. Although the demand for…

America continues to make progress in meeting its high school dropout challenge. Leaders in education, government, nonprofits and business have awakened to the individual, social and economic costs of the dropout crisis and are working together to solve it. This year, all states, districts, and schools are required by law to calculate high school…

As we enter deeper into the 21st Century, there is a more urgent need to transform our educational system in the United States to better prepare our youth for the careers and technology of the future. This study examines how improving technology education at the high school level can improve the learning and college readiness of urban youth. It…

In recent years, criticism of high school graduates' lack of readiness for college and work has led a number of states to raise high school graduation requirements--particularly in terms of the number and rigor of courses students must pass. This issue of "The Progress of Education Reform" addresses end-of-course assessments at the high…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "The High Cost of Low Educational Performance": New OECD Report Finds that 25 Point Increase in PISA Scores…