Numerous dual enrollment programs have recently emerged due to the ongoing push for pursuing higher education in the United States. In South Texas, dual enrollment programs are prevalent in almost every high school campus and collaborating colleges and universities. This begs the question, Are students being adequately prepared for college in high…

This report examines state portraits of a graduate and how state strategies for development and implementation can support future readiness. It also provides recommendations for state education agencies to consider to lift up the importance and visibility of these portraits. Several states have begun the process of developing a…

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…

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of high school students associated with a United States-based preparatory school located in Myanmar regarding their readiness for college in Western society. In this two-stage study, quantitative data were collected using a 100-item 5-point Likert-scale survey focusing on college and…

States recognize that a workforce skill shortage exists and have started educational initiatives to prepare students for workforce readiness and postsecondary success. There is a growing consensus among states that the goal of our education system is to prepare students for a career, college, or the military by providing all students with…

As states and higher education institutions continue to face headwinds in attempting to develop and refine initiatives targeting student success metrics and enrollment management objectives, dual enrollment programs have become increasingly prevalent nationwide. Stakeholders have turned to these early postsecondary programs based on their…

Strands in the extant literature show many students graduate from high school illprepared to be successful in the postsecondary environment. The purpose of this study is to better understand best practices for achieving first-year student success within the realm of higher education. First-year college students may experience challenges in…

This study examined the college and career efforts of adult education programs in South Carolina. Using a survey developed by the National Resource Center "Exploring College and Career Readiness in South Carolina Secondary Schools", adult education directors were surveyed. The survey instrument was adapted to include adult education…

The proposed work focused on the development and feasibility of a project aiming to introduce college readiness skills to youth who were in the foster care system in order to increase their perception of self-efficacy in an educational setting. With this increase in self-efficacy, foster youth who are generally disadvantaged when attaining and…

This qualitative phenomenological research employed purposive sampling to delve into the educational concept of equity disparity stemming from college readiness programs. The study specifically targeted teachers and administrators who possessed firsthand experience with the phenomenon of inequity observed among students achieving success within…

Our educational system must constantly change and evolve to fully equip our students with the support and resources needed to succeed. However, the needs of first-generation students--students who desire to go to college but whose parents did not attend--are oftentimes not considered as part of these educational changes. These students encounter…

College readiness has been a primary focus of U.S. secondary education for over 40 years. Despite the continued focus on college readiness at the national, state, and local levels, researchers have claimed that educational reforms have resulted in little gains in students' college readiness, warranting continued emphasis and research. To advance…

This study will examine the first-to-second-year college persistence of students who graduated from Fort Worth Independent School District (FWISD) in the class of 2018. The study seeks to understand how the attainment of college readiness indicators correlates with college persistence in two categories of students, resourced and under-resourced.…

A quarter of Wisconsin's high school students earned some college credit in a dual enrollment program during the 2021-22 school year. The two-fold increase in students over the past decade represents a substantial potential savings of time and money for students and families, but better data collection and analysis is needed to determine how these…

Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by most states in the United States to improve academic rigor, which in turn is believed to better prepare graduating high school students for college and careers. Yet, it is not as well understood whether CCSS Initiative-aligned instruction potentially better prepares all students, thereby availing…