Despite many theories on student success as well as many resources to help students make the transition from high school to college, many students do not persist in or graduate from college. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide insight into what takes place when students leave P-12 institutions and enter institutions of higher education…

This phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of 13 former career and technical graduates who participated in an internship while in high school. With each participant, the researcher conducted interviews that focused on their perceptions of their internship experience and the influence it had on their career or college pathway. The…

A committee comprised of the former state superintendent and educational leaders launched a unique high school program (pseudonym Connections) to support the delivery of a high school curriculum that would prepare students for college and careers. Students in Connections complete their 4 years of high school, supported by an Advocate who guides…

High school dual credit programs have risen to prominence in the last decade and seek to solve the critical issue of academic under-preparedness in graduating high school students. However, current research suggests that as the number of students participating in dual credit courses increases, dual credit pass rates decrease. This current…

This quantitative study aimed to determine whether participation in dual enrollment or advanced placement courses helped increase the college readiness self-efficacy of high school graduates. With the results of this study, the researcher believes that participation in dual enrollment and advanced placement courses is associated positively with…

The problem addressed in this study was the level of preparedness of first-year community college students enrolled in remedial math and English courses instead of entering college-level courses. Hence, many high school graduates are not satisfactorily prepared to endure the rigors of college coursework and have to take remedial courses. The…

On average 66% of high school graduates in the United States enroll in some form of post-secondary education after high school graduation. However, less than half of students sitting for the ACT in 2019 were deemed college ready in evidence-based reading, writing and math and as many of two thirds of first year college students enroll in at least…

Community colleges face enrollment declines, student performance, and accountability metrics, the need to support nontraditional students' career paths, and constraints imposed by limited resources. Community college leadership would benefit from empirical data on students with nontraditional GED credentials and the effects of remedial education…

How do some high schools produce graduates that consistently achieve at high levels? Would you believe there's a set of proven strategies that could help you deliver similar impressive results and better prepare students for the world after high school? High schools in the United States face a startling reality: many graduates are unprepared for…

Professional school counselors are charged with preparing students to be college and career ready and students may depend on their school counselor to provide them with a comprehensive plan for post-secondary options. Unfortunately, even with adequate access to academic knowledge and skills, not all students may be career and college ready due to…

Annually, 40% to 60% of students who graduate high school and enroll in higher education do not exhibit the skills necessary to succeed in college-level work and will need remediation in mathematics or English (Jimenez et al., 2016). Successfully graduating from high school does not guarantee academic preparedness for college. To understand why a…

Texas has approximately 200 designated early college high schools (ECHS). The present study aimed to acquire feedback from ECHS graduates to identify how students could be prepared more effectively for postsecondary education degree attainment and identify potential areas of disconnect between ECHS and 4-year colleges. To explore early college…

The transition from high school into postsecondary education and a career has become particularly challenging given today's complex, fast-moving, and highly technological economy. To combat this problem, one approach widely adopted in the United States is the career academy model, which combines a college-preparatory and career and technical…

Policy makers have taken more interest in career and technical education (CTE) in recent years, but evidence regarding what kinds of programs produce the most important outcomes is still emerging. Shaun M. Dougherty summarizes what recent research tells us about the impact of these programs. Evidence has shown that CTE-dedicated schools, career…

This study aimed to investigate the relationships, if any, between Ready to Graduate indicator, average ACT scores, chronic absenteeism rates, and school counselor to student ratios in Tennessee's four urban counties surrounding Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga, and Knoxville, Tennessee. Only eight of Tennessee's 95 counties have a population that…