This paper examines the long-term impact of the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act (MERA) and the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) on postsecondary education outcomes, with a focus on historically underserved students. MERA aimed to improve educational standards and close achievement gaps through the introduction of MCAS,…

The COVID-19 pandemic has threatened to widen racial educational achievement and attainment gaps in the United States, reinforcing a need to understand how education policy can work to advance racial equity. Dual enrollment (DE) programs offer a potential policy solution that could increase college-going for these students as participation has…

The state of Colorado passed the Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act (2009) with the intention of expanding higher education to individuals from historically underserved populations by implementing access to college courses for students still attending high school. Participation in Concurrent Enrollment increases the likelihood of students…

Background/Context: Sometimes students with the academic credentials to attend more selective colleges enroll in a less selective institution or do not enroll at all, a phenomenon known as undermatching (Bowen et al., 2009; Roderick et al., 2011; Smith et al., 2013; Rodriguez, 2015). Undermatching is associated with lower graduation rates and…

This update of an annual report from the Boston Private Industry Council in partnership with the Boston Foundation and Success Boston captures one of the first looks at how the pandemic affected whether Boston Public Schools graduates enrolled in and completed college. On enrollment, the report finds that the percentage of Boston Public Schools…

Two persistent shortcomings of the American labor market are the wage gaps and unequal unemployment rates that exist between racial groups. More specifically, Black and Latinx high school graduates earn less and are more likely to be unemployed than their White counterparts, on average. Likewise, students from low-income families are much more…

This tenth annual High School Benchmarks Report provides updated data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. This report was designed with several features particularly tailored to secondary education practitioners and policymakers. First, results presented in this report update last years' findings on high…

The Iowa Department of Education (Department) collects enrollment information from all 15 community colleges. This report summarizes several aspects of community college enrollment including: (1) Students; (2) Student Demographics; (3) Academics; (4) Program Type; (5) Transfer Major Programs; (6) Career and Technical Education and Career Clusters;…

There are widespread concerns about disparities in educational attainment in the United States. Unfortunately African American, Hispanic, Native American, and low-income Broward County Public Schools high school students participate in College Bound Type Programs at lower rates than students of other races and ethnicities. Many of these students…

Few interventions reduce inequality in reading achievement, let alone higher order thinking skills, among adolescents. We study "policy debate"--an extracurricular activity focused on improving middle and high schoolers' critical thinking, argumentation, and policy analysis skills--in Boston schools serving large concentrations of…

Leveraging publicly available data about schools" absenteeism from the New Jersey Department of Education, the present study examined how neighborhood-level resource deprivation and violent crime related to chronic absenteeism in Passaic County's elementary, middle, and high schools. Results highlighted geographic disparities in Passaic…

College education plays a crucial role in upward social mobility. However, despite applying to and being accepted by colleges, students often fail to matriculate -- a phenomenon known as "summer melt". The summer after high school graduation is a vulnerable period for these students due to limited counseling support from both high…

Dual enrollment (DE) courses are offered as an early college option to students at a small, rural high school in the mid-Atlantic region through a partnership with the regional community college. This study investigates the impacts of dual enrollment courses on the emotions and attitudes of students regarding college attendance and preparation.…

I explore FAFSA completion within the high school context through a three-essay dissertation. Each study connects high school-level FAFSA completion data from the Federal Student Aid Office to other federal or state datasets that allow for assessment of the impact of a variety of high school characteristics. In paper 1, I examine high school-level…

This dissertation includes three essays that examine the potential of policies, interventions, and curricula in improving transitions to four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. The first essay provides a novel investigation of New York City's adoption of SAT School Day (SSD), which provides universal access to college entrance exams for…