The California Community College (CCC) system serves a large student body, diverse in backgrounds, experiences, and educational goals. The accompanying report uses data from the CCC system's records to measure variation in achievement across the state's Strong Workforce Regions. The report considers a range of achievement measures, including…

A continuing priority in education has focused on preparing students for postacademic success. The adoption of the Common Core State Standards Initiative prompted educational leaders to focus on preparing students to be "college and career ready." Definitions, perceptions, and efforts to improve college and career readiness vary widely.…

As CEO of the Urban Assembly, a nonprofit organization that oversees a network of 23 student-centered schools in New York City, David Adams knows what it takes for students to succeed not only in school but in the real world. Before serving as CEO at the Urban Assembly, Adams was the organization's director of social-emotional learning and created…

Gateway courses are foundational, college-level courses that apply to a student's program of study or to a college's general education requirements. These courses are typically considered first-year or lower-division courses and serve as a basis for more advanced studies. Research has demonstrated that completing gateway courses in two key…

Due to fragmented and misaligned segments of public education, many students lack access to educational opportunities that will ensure their success in college and career. This problem is one that may only be solved through better alignment and coordination between high school and college, between systems of higher education, and between education…

The Iowa Department of Education (Department) collects information on developmental education (dev. ed.) from Iowa's 15 community colleges on an annual basis. Dev. ed. courses are offered in mathematics, reading, writing, English as a Second Language (ESL), and in other subject areas, such as financial literacy and skill building. These credits do…

College and career pathways represent a significant national education reform movement supported by federal, state, and philanthropic funding. High school pathways combine career and technical education with rigorous academics, work-based learning, and integrated student supports to provide equitable access to postsecondary opportunities. Strong…

This brief is part of the Affirming Equity, Ensuring Inclusion, and Empowering Action initiative. This brief summarizes the research on dual enrollment programs--programs which allow high school students to enroll in college coursework through a partnering college or university--and offers policymakers a strategy to increase college enrollment and…

This comprehensive strategic plan lays out a vision for an education system that offers every Rhode Island student the opportunity to be a lifelong learner. While this plan is informed by the events of the pandemic, it looks beyond to address the root issues that impede students from thriving at every level of their education. It lays out…

At community colleges and open-enrollment universities, most first-year students take placement exams in English and mathematics to determine whether they are ready for college-level courses. But large-scale studies have indicated that these test scores misplace substantial numbers of students--in other words, for many students, the test score…

Approved by the Kansas State Board of Education in 2017, the school redesign project has seen more than 160 schools to reimagine their learning models in a state-led, multiyear process. Annual cohorts named for NASA lunar missions, the fourteen schools in seven districts that formed the initial Mercury cohort engaged in intensive planning and…

The Chancellor of the Oklahoma state system of higher education has focused on two overarching objectives: expanding workforce development efforts and creating paths to a better life for Oklahomans. Oklahoma public institutions and elected officials are partners in developing an educated, engaged workforce prepared to meet the state's current and…

In John Dewey's educational framework, the process and product are inseparable; achieving democratic ends cannot result from undemocratic means. For him, the full humanization of people depended not upon externally imposed curriculum and management systems, but rather on responding to the intrinsic needs, interests, and powers of the individual to…

Since 1998, the Iowa Department of Education's Division of Community Colleges and Workforce Preparation (division) has compiled and published "The Annual Condition of Iowa's Community Colleges," commonly known as the "Condition Report." The intent of this report is to provide clear, objective data about Iowa's community…

Dual enrollment equity pathways (DEEP) is a research-based framework for rethinking dual enrollment as a more equitable on-ramp to college programs of study that lead to family-supporting, career-path jobs for students who might not otherwise pursue education after college. The DEEP approach involves community colleges and K-12 schools partnering…