Presented at the AP Annual Conference (APAC) in Las Vegas, NV in July 2013. This analysis takes a close look at first-generation Advanced Placement® (AP®) test takers to better understand the needs and challenges they face on their path to college. The analysis focuses on college-bound AP test takers who also took the SAT and examines a variety of…

Most high school reform efforts understandably focus on boosting the success of low-income students who are underachieving academically, but in every school district where students struggle, there are academically capable low-income and minority students who do graduate prepared for college. Yet each year, many of these students choose to attend…

A collaborative at several sites across the state of California will offer evidence of how successful linked learning, which connects academics to real-world work, can be. This article presents examples that illustrate the powerful connections and linkages that are generated by combining academic rigor with the relevance of applying learning to…

The debate about high school reform is increasingly focused on the role of career-technical education (CTE) in helping to prepare "all" students for success in "both" postsecondary education and the workforce. The stand-alone vocational courses into which high school students with lower academic achievement were often channeled…

In Manitoba's Seven Oaks School Division, all 3,000 high school students have a teacher advisor who spends an hour a week with them throughout their four years in high school, knows them as individuals, knows their families, and acts as an academic and life coach. Advisors help students complete their first high school course registration and they…

This study focused on the unique qualities of selected college access centers established in Texas high schools with the dual goal of assisting students with college preparation activities and of creating a school-wide college going culture. Six centers demonstrating estimable outcomes on at least one of several different variables were…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how students at Henry Lord Middle School in Fall River take into consideration their initial college and career aspirations when making their decision for high school. Self-efficacy theory, critical theory, and a literature review related to high school decision-making inform the analysis of…

The purpose of this participatory action research was to create a comprehensive evaluation of advanced geoscience education in Pennsylvania public high schools and to ascertain the possible impact of this trend on student perceptions and attitudes towards the geosciences as a legitimate academic subject and possible career option. The study builds…

For many Native American students, particularly those from reservations, the pursuit of higher education is a formidable concept to grasp. Poverty, rural isolation, and a myriad of social ills all take a role as demotivational factors that act as barriers between Native American students and a college education. On the other hand, family,…

Study goals were to assess: (a) the development of academic interests from middle childhood through late adolescence; (b) the degree to which junior high and high school transitions, parents' educational expectations, interests, and education were related to changes in academic interests; and (c) the longitudinal links between youths' academic…

Since 2003, Austin Independent School District's (AISD) postsecondary enrollment has increased incrementally. Over the years, the percentages of students enrolling in 2-year institutions appear to account for the overall increase in postsecondary enrollment. After the upward tick in postsecondary enrollment for the Class of 2011, enrollment…

This paper examines science education for girls in Achimota School, a second cycle institution in Accra, in terms of their motivations for pursuing science and future aspirations. It explores parental backgrounds and how they impacted on the motivations and aspirations of the girls. The survey method was adopted in this study, which involved a…

This report presents the results of The 2009 National Survey of Latinos, which asked Hispanics ages 16 and older about their educational goals, experiences with high schools and colleges, and their opinions about educational institutions. The survey was conducted from Aug. 5 through Sept. 16, 2009, among a randomly selected, nationally…

From the Wisconsin status attainment model to rational choice, classical sociological, social-psychological, and economic theories of student educational transitions have assumed that students' expectations are positively related to their ultimate attainment. However, the growth of the college-for-all ethos raises questions about that assumption.…

The purpose of this study was to explore the postsecondary educational and occupational expectations of work-bound rural youth. Three groups of work-bound youth were identified (work-bound, work-bound with future educational plans, and work-bound but unsure/undecided about postsecondary education), and each group was compared to college-bound…