Research has shown that student access and achievement in advanced precollege chemistry has been largely inequitable when considering certain demographic factors. In this nonexperimental observational study, an intersectional analysis of ethnicity and gender was utilized to examine United States student participation and performance (N = 146,610)…

Many regional public universities (RPUs) provide college access to diverse groups of undergraduate students and face pressures to pursue prestige in the academic hierarchy. Prior research posits that RPUs will strive for prestige because of status- and resource-based rewards that flow from increasing their admissions selectivity,…

Rural Mississippi schools often face challenges in providing equitable access to Advanced Placement (AP) courses, particularly in STEM fields. This lack of access limits opportunities for high-achieving students to pursue rigorous STEM coursework and related careers. The AP STEM program aims to improve access to AP STEM courses for high-achieving…

This study examines the long-term relation between an Integrated Student Support (ISS) intervention and postsecondary enrollment and completion for predominantly low-income students of color. We use propensity score weighting to estimate the relation between receiving ISS during elementary school and postsecondary outcomes for 2009-2017 high…

In "Delivering Promise," award-winning scholar of higher education Xueli Wang tells a story of educational change and innovation that has and continues to occur at countless campuses of community and technical colleges. Wang weaves together a careful account of how faculty, staff, administrators, institutional researchers, and college…

The value of a college degree continues to rise. A bachelor's degree in particular provides unrivaled economic and health benefits not just for the individual earning the degree, but for the entire state. Therefore, it is not surprising to see growing demand for a college education coupled with growing eligibility for California's public…

This exploratory study examines the role community-based organizations have in bridging low-income students of color to postsecondary institutions. Data came from interviews with organization staff, high school students, and college students associated with three distinct community-based organizations located in a mid-size city. The findings…

New York City's Pre-K for All (PKA) is the nation's largest universal early childhood initiative, serving over 64,000 four-year-olds annually. Stemming from the program's choice architecture as well as the city's stark residential segregation, PKA programs are extremely segregated by child race/ethnicity. Our current study explores the complex…

As part of the federally-funded grant project "SLIDE: The School Librarian Investigation--Decline or Evolution?" this study analyzed the status of school librarian employment for almost 13,000 U.S public school districts from 2018-19 and 2020-21. The purpose of the study was to learn how the COVID-19 pandemic, which radically disrupted…

Public flagship universities were established to provide an excellent education to state residents. These premier, well-resourced institutions are therefore ideally positioned to address the longstanding inequities in college access and completion. With proven histories of tackling societal challenges head-on, such as combating climate change and…

Efforts to improve college-completion rates have dominated higher education policy agendas. Performance-based funding (PBF) intends to improve college completion and links state funding for public colleges and universities to performance measures. One critique of PBF policies is that institutions might restrict student access. This study uses a…

Opportunity Works was a three-year effort led by Jobs for the Future to help opportunity youth--young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school or meaningfully employed--access postsecondary and career pathways. Based on the Back on Track framework, seven cities across the country undertook collective impact approaches with diverse partners to…

Currently, an option of Pell Grant eligibility for the Second Chance Pell (SCP) experiment is priority given to students who will be released within 5 years of enrollment in the college program. Using the 2014 U.S. PIAAC Prison Survey, conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), this analysis evaluates the demographics of…

Public flagship universities were established with a mission to provide an excellent education to their states' residents and are therefore well-positioned to enhance social and economic mobility within their states. Yet in many cases, too few low-income students and students of color have access to these elite colleges and the opportunities they…

Public flagship universities were established with a mission to provide an excellent education to their states' residents and are therefore well-positioned to enhance social and economic mobility within their states. Yet in many cases, too few low-income students and students of color have access to these elite colleges and the opportunities they…