This call to action is based on a simple but important premise: The nation cannot allow college placement policies, processes, and instruments to undermine promising efforts to increase student success in mathematics and increase attainment of STEM credentials. Efforts to redesign math pathways hold great promise for improving the teaching and…

Transition policy and programs have primarily focused on preparing students with disabilities for employment. Public policy over the last three decades has gradually broadened to include increasing emphasis on transition to postsecondary education. To date, the literature has primarily addressed matters related to demographics, legislation and…

Economic strains play an important factor in students not only dropping out of school but also for not being able to attend college. As the cost of college tuition increases, many youths may perceive that the possibility of attending college may be out of their reach for financial reasons. Using data drawn from the savings for education,…

In recent decades, as pressures have mounted to raise K-12 academic standards and move more students into and through college, high schools have provided a growing array of programs that offer college-level content. Frequent claims suggest that these programs raise academic standards, prepare students for college, and shorten the time to a…

Nearly 40 percent of the students entering 2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions indicated their intention to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in 2012. But the barriers to students realizing their ambitions are reflected in the fact that about half of those with the intention to earn a STEM bachelor's degree and…

Despite popular conceptions of the "gap year" as a time of personal enrichment, the incidence of delay between high school and college is greatest among students from socioeconomically disadvantaged families, suggesting other motivations. This article examines two explanations for socioeconomic inequalities in rates of delay: disparities in high…

This report discusses factors that contribute to lower college success rates among underrepresented racial/ethnic minority students and students from lower-income families. The report also shows that "racial/ethnic and family income gaps in college success rates narrow substantially among students who are ready for college." Everyone needs to…

This study assessed the differences in educational aspirations and educational anticipations between four groups (AVID, GEAR UP, AVID/GEAR UP, and Control) of high school seniors who participated in a previous study as 10th graders (Watt, Huerta, & Lozano, 2007). It also measured whether any change in aspirations and anticipations occurred…

In recent years there has been an increasing focus among states on the importance of preparing all students for college and work. Statewide administration of the ACT provides all students, including those who have never considered college as an option, with the opportunity to identify academic strengths and weaknesses, explore educational and…

Community colleges across the country have created innovative, data-informed programs that are models for educating underprepared students, engaging traditionally underserved students, and helping students from all backgrounds succeed. However, because most of these programs have limited scope, the field now has pockets of success rather than…

This study examines 4 groups of high school students enrolled in 2 college preparatory programs, AVID and GEAR UP. Differences in student educational aspirations, expectations and anticipations, knowledge of college entrance requirements, knowledge of financial aid, and academic achievement in mathematics were examined. Adelman's (1999)…

Melissa Roderick, Jenny Nagaoka, and Vanessa Coca focus on the importance of improving college access and readiness for low-income and minority students in urban high schools. They stress the aspirations-attainment gap: although the college aspirations of all U.S. high school students, regardless of race, ethnicity, and family income, have…

This report is the based on a 10-year study of the activities developed under a National Science Foundation (NSF) Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) grant to a collaborative of institutions from the State University of New York. The goals of LSAMP are to recruit and retain under-represented minority students in the STEM…

This critical essay is based on ethnographic research that followed thirteen students (from different social classes and racial background) through the college application process during their senior year of high school (Bloom, 2007). The study's purpose was to understand the accumulation and use of social and cultural capital by critically…

This multisited ethnography followed nine successful Latino high-school students enrolled in a college-preparation program to examine their development of college aspirations and identify factors that contributed to their successful preparation for a 4-year university. It also explored these students' "multiple worlds" of home, school, community,…