This study examines the current state of volleyball in the USA against a heuristic model for high performance sport integrated with mass participation. A questionnaire was utilized for the following elements of the model: talent development; advanced athlete support; training centers; competitions; intellectual services; partnerships with…

Early awareness strategies, from outreach campaigns to cohort-based learning groups to scholarships, are a group of efforts that help middle school students stay on the path to college and understand how to fund their education. These strategies become part of early awareness programs, which seek to put students on a college-going path by…

This self-assessment tool was developed for those who wish to embark on state-wide governmental systems change to improve high school transition and employment outcomes for youth and young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Its purpose is to aid in the development of a work plan that is based on a review of the state…

For too many young people, the transition from high school to college or a career poses significant challenges. In Boston alone, nearly 5,000 16- to 24-year-olds are not in school or employed. This group, known as Opportunity Youth, represents incredible untapped promise and potential. Our latest report takes an in-depth look at what career…

There is a federal movement to improve student outcomes targeting some of these predictors in several recently launched initiatives, but where does Arizona stand? What are we currently doing to move the needle, and what do we still need to do? This report prepared for the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council has two objectives: (1)…

Late in 2007 New Visions for Public Schools, a New York City reform organization, received a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation to organize select high schools and community partners into delivery systems that could improve student achievement. New Visions asked Policy Studies Associates, Inc. to provide research support for this effort in the…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Improving the Lives of Our High School Students: Alliance and Scholastic Co-Host Invitational High School Literacy…