Students in technology majors such as Computer Science and Information Technology need to take a series of computer programming courses to graduate. Yet, not all students will persist in taking programming courses as required, and little is known about the factors influencing their enrollment intentions. Research is needed to better understand…

Research conducted by The RP Group's Multiple Measures Assessment Project (MMAP) and summarized in "Preparatory Pathways and STEM Calculus Completion: Implications of the AB 1705 Standards" found high rates of attrition along the path to calculus for students pursuing programs in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). In this…

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, online credit recovery (OCR) was the most popular use of distance learning in high schools in the United States. With high course failure rates during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, high schools have turned to OCR to help students recover lost credit. This study examined the potential consequences of…

Following national trends in both mathematics placement and developmental mathematics coursework progression, this study investigates alternative placement options that remove a developmental mathematics barrier for as many students as possible by providing alternative placement pathways. By allowing students to be placed directly into the…

This study examined one strategy for dev-ed math reform, the Dana Center Math Pathways (DCMP) model. The DCMP model encouraged students to enroll in a college-level math course best suited to their field of interest and, at the time of inquiry, used a compression approach, condensing sequences of two or more developmental courses into a shorter,…

Nationally, credit recovery has been used as a strategy to encourage and enable students to re-take previously failed courses needed to graduate. The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) offers both in-person and online options for recovering failed or missing credits required for graduation. This study provides a snapshot of the district's…

Many states are redesigning their college remediation policies to increase postsecondary degree completion. In 2012, Tennessee began waiving college math remediation for high school students who completed a computer-based remedial math course (SAILS) during their senior year. Using a regression discontinuity design, we find that the high school…

To expand participation in Advanced Placement (AP) courses, several District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) high schools have enacted a policy mandating that all students enroll in one or more AP courses. To promote quality instruction in AP courses, DCPS recommends regular teacher participation in the Advanced Placement Summer Institute (APSI)…

This document contains the appendixes for the full report, "Advanced Placement Participation, Staffing, and Staff Training in the District of Columbia Public Schools." The study examined students' AP exam taking and passing rates in schools that mandate AP course enrollment and in schools that do not, teacher participation in the…

Previous studies have compared student performance for the same or similar classes delivered both online and face-to-face. However, few studies have explored the role that a change in learning environment plays in the student's ability to transfer skills and knowledge gained in prerequisite courses to follow-on, or post-requisite, courses. The…

Recent increases in high school graduation rates have been linked anecdotally to online course-taking for credit recovery. Online course-taking that supports high school completion could open opportunities for postsecondary education pursuits. Alternatively, poorer quality online instruction could diminish student learning and discourage…

Increasing the rigor of courses taken in high school is a crucial part of education policy. However, existing knowledge about high school coursework is outdated. Using data from a recent nationally representative data set, this brief reports results that expand our knowledge base on the relationship between rigorous coursework and postsecondary…

Since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 began holding schools accountable for high school graduation rates, multiple strategies have emerged to help more students receive their diplomas. Among the most popular and widely deployed are credit recovery programs, which allow students to "recover credits" from one or more courses that they…

Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705) sought to increase successful completion of transfer-level math and English courses by addressing systemic problems in traditional placement policies and curricular structures. The law requires colleges to maximize the probability that students who enroll in credit English as a second language (ESL) courses complete…

These technical appendices are for the report, "English as a Second Language at California's Community Colleges: An Early Examination of AB 705 Reforms." Assembly Bill 705 (AB 705 Irwin) sought to increase successful completion of transfer-level math and English courses by addressing systemic problems in traditional placement policies…