Industry-recognized certifications (IRCs) are designed by businesses, industrial groups, and state agencies to enable students to demonstrate their skills related to a specific profession and to enable industries to know whether potential employees are qualified for specific jobs. To understand the value of these certifications, Matt Giani…

Texas is booming thanks to economic opportunities that draw people to the Lone Star State. But beneath this success lies concerning trends that call into question if Texas students are ready to compete in the Lone Star economy. This report details how Texas students do not have the knowledge and skills to succeed as they move on to the next grade…

Jobs for the Future's (JFF) vision for the Big Blur calls for entirely new educational institutions and systems to better prepare 16-to-20-year-olds for college and careers. This paper examines the new type of governance needed to help states create more effective grade 11-14 schools and systems by erasing the arbitrary dividing line between high…

The purpose of this report is to provide information about the academic performance of emergent bilingual students in the Austin Independent School District (AISD). This document summarizes performance on the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR) tests, end-of-course (EOC) tests, the Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment…

RAND partnered with Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and American Institutes for Research to support the state's developmental education reform efforts through a combination of continuous improvement support and analysis of statewide data on implementation. One of the reforms examined through the study was the state's recommendation that…

High-quality career and technical education (CTE) programs represent an effective way to provide young adults with an educational experience that prepares them for both college and career success. But not all CTE programs provide accessible pathways to a bounty of educational options without dead ends. To address the false dichotomy--college…

When Texas state budgets resulted in a loss of direct funding for the transition of deaf and hard of hearing students', collaboration efforts for assisting these students became critical. Theresa Johnson, MEd, outreach specialist at the Educational Resource Center on Deafness in Austin, and John A. Serrano, MA, director of Academic Affairs at the…

Of the nearly 100 different types of high school diplomas that are awarded across all fifty states and the District of Columbia, less than half prepare students for success in college and career. And while the national high school graduation rate is at an all-time high, the rate at which students earn these college- and career-ready (CCR) diplomas…

In the United States, the prevailing high school mathematics course sequence begins with a year of Algebra I, followed by a year of geometry and a year of Algebra II. Educators and others have raised concerns about the extent to which this sequence, which prioritizes the mastery of algebra, is appropriate for the longer-term education and career…

Research shows that students who participate in early college programs are more likely to enroll in and persist through college than non-early college students. This fact sheet examines the impact of a districtwide early college program in Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District in Texas. The fact sheet includes a series of questions…

"Dual enrollment" programs allow high school students to take college courses and earn college credits while still attending high school. Such programs, also referred to as "dual credit" or early college programs, are designed to boost college access and degree attainment, especially for students typically underrepresented in…

Roughly seven years have passed since the majority of states adopted college- and career-readiness (CCR) standards. Some states adopted the Common Core State Standards while others adopted their own versions of CCR standards. Because teachers are the primary implementers of CCR standards, we wanted to understand the challenges they face in using…

Colleges attempt to identify students who are underprepared for college-level courses and then place them into developmental courses intended to help them succeed. These courses are usually offered on a non-credit basis and do not count toward graduation. As a result, students enrolled in developmental education can take longer to graduate than…

Colleges attempt to identify students who are underprepared for college-level courses and then place them into developmental courses intended to help them succeed. These courses are usually offered on a non-credit basis and do not count toward graduation. As a result, students enrolled in developmental education can take longer to graduate than…

Colleges attempt to identify students who are underprepared for college-level courses and then place them into developmental courses intended to help them succeed. These courses are usually offered on a non-credit basis and do not count toward graduation. As a result, students enrolled in developmental education can take longer to graduate than…