Research shows that Early College high schools have a significant impact on high school and college outcomes for students from low income and racial/ethnic minority backgrounds, but how similar opportunities extend to English learners (ELs) remains unknown. We examine a program that offers Early College opportunities in high schools serving large…

Completing the A-G course sequence is the standard pathway to college for California high school graduates; however, findings indicate that there is substantial variation in A-G enrollment and completion rates across student subgroups and schools. This brief describes the distribution in access to and success in A-G courses as well as strategies…

The future of California will be defined by ensuring better educational opportunity for Latinx Californians. While historic numbers of Latinx students are graduating from high school prepared for college and are enrolling in higher education, these numbers are still too low. Inequitable access to college opportunity and success in graduating with…

As the population of Latinx students grows in U.S. public schools and our nation seeks to address systemic inequities, racism, and xenophobia, this counternarrative provides inspiration to those wishing to reinvigorate schools and build a more caring and just world. "Authentic Cariño" documents the innovative practices, successes, and…

Since the publication of the initial report of the League's Commission on the Future (COTF), there have been many reports written and the California Community Colleges have taken many steps to improve student success and completion. However, there is still much to do. This paper will provide a brief assessment of where we are--in relation to…

The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of students enrolled in a basic skills math class at a California community college and the role of the peer model in informing their college-going behaviors. There is significant interest in increasing the number of students who complete basic skills courses and make progress towards a…

Among ethnic groups in California, Latinos continue to have the lowest high school graduation rates and the lowest college completion rates. This study focused on understanding the role parents can play and ways schools and educators can support immigrant Latino parents to improve these rates. Framed with a "funds of knowledge" approach…

In its analysis of more than 15,000 high school transcripts, the Education Trust-West found that non-college-bound students tend to take a weak academic load and disconnected electives. As a result, far too many students--most often low-income students and students of color--are bound for low-level jobs, prepared for neither college nor career.…

This report focuses on pathways to postsecondary education (PSE), including high school completion, for pregnant and parenting teens. Although birth rates among teens have declined in the United States over the last 20 years, one in seven adolescent females (14.4 percent) is expected to give birth before age 20 with females of color (24 percent of…

Mexican American students have a long and proud history of enrolling in colleges and universities across the state of California for nearly 160 years, since shortly after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848. Yet, inexplicably, historians of higher education have virtually ignored the Mexican American experience in California higher education.…

Despite the large number of students entering high school, in our nation's urban centers with high minority populations, graduation rates are at "crisis levels" (The Civil Rights Project, 2005). Research shows a demonstrated relationship between high school graduation, college attendance and degree completion and the student's race and…

To determine new eligibility goals for California, the author and his colleagues developed a student flow model that projects student enrollment and degrees awarded for each year from 2005 to 2025. To develop the model, they first developed population projections for the state. They also used a plethora of data sources to identify current trends…

Little is known about migrant students' college access. Outreach programs serving such students rarely track their participants' postsecondary trajectories, nor do they compare participants' college access outcomes with those of similar students. This study examines the California public college application, acceptance, and enrollment patterns of…

Fifty years ago, state policymakers and higher education officials adopted California's Master Plan for Higher Education. This plan still largely defines policies concerning the state's public higher education systems: the California community colleges (CCC), the California State University (CSU) system, and the University of California (UC)…

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) in April 2009. Using a comprehensive longitudinal data set as an example, poses questions and raises issues around defining a high school curriculum that is related to indicators of college success.