The mission of Lumina Foundation for Education is to expand access and success in education beyond high school, particularly among adults, first-generation college-going students, low-income students and students of color. This mission is directed toward a single, overarching "big goal"--to increase the percentage of Americans with high-quality…

Partly as a consequence of the substantial increase in the college wage premium since 1980, a much higher fraction of high school graduates enter college today than they did a quarter century ago. However, the rise in the fraction of high school graduates attending college has not been met by a proportional increase in the fraction who finish.…

Career academies, after more than four decades of development and three decades of evaluation, have been found by a conclusive random assignment study to be effective in improving outcomes for students during and after high school. Career academies have therefore become the most durable and best-tested component of a high school reform strategy to…

In 2011, the New York City Mayor's Office, the Open Society Foundations, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and over 20 local agencies launched the Young Men's Initiative (YMI), a citywide effort to improve outcomes for Black and Latino young men in the areas of education, health, employment, and criminal justice. YMI is one of the single largest…

This appendix describes the data collection and analytic processes used to develop the findings in the report "Promising Opportunities for Black and Latino Young Men." A central challenge was creating an analytic framework that could be uniformly applied to all schools, despite the individualized nature of their Expanded Success…

In 2011, the New York City Mayor's Office, the Open Society Foundations, Bloomberg Philanthropies, and over 20 local agencies launched the Young Men's Initiative (YMI), a citywide effort to improve outcomes for Black and Latino young men in the areas of education, health, employment, and criminal justice. YMI is one of the single largest…

This report is the ACT annual report on the progress of U.S. high school graduates relative to college readiness. This year's report shows that 59% of students in the 2015 U.S. graduating class took the ACT® test, up from 57% last year and 49% in 2011. The increased number of test takers over the past several years enhances the breadth and depth…

The National Center for Educational Achievement (ACT/NCEA), a department of ACT, Inc., defines College and Career Readiness as when a student has reached an academic achievement level that indicates they are likely to have success in postsecondary learning or training that leads to skilled careers. This paper provides answers to the following…

Advocates of online learning are optimistic about its potential to promote greater access to college by reducing the cost and time of commuting and, in the case of asynchronous approaches, by allowing students to study on a schedule that is optimal for them. This goal of improved access has been one of the top motivators for postsecondary…

The children from immigrant families in the United States make up a historically diverse population, and they are demonstrating just as much diversity in their experiences in the K-12 educational system. Robert Crosnoe and Ruth Lopez Turley summarize these K-12 patterns, paying special attention to differences in academic functioning across…

The United States and Spain have had radically different immigration histories, and they also have very different education systems and policies, yet there are similarities. Despite official efforts to welcome immigrant youth, both education systems operate, paradoxically, in ways that are unwelcoming, relegating immigrant youth to the margins of…

Today's students--as exemplified by the three inspiring people on this report--are a remarkably diverse group with unlimited potential. America is home to tens of millions of these 21st century students, and their success is vital to the nation's future. For the United States to thrive in the rapidly changing global economy, the full potential of…

This report examines the effects of increasing science course-taking requirements in the Chicago Public Schools. CPS has been at the forefront of the national movement to require a college-preparatory curriculum for all high school students. In 1997, CPS mandated that all entering ninth-graders take a college-preparatory curriculum in high school,…

In 2002, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation started the Early College High School Initiative (ECHSI). Through this initiative, more than 200 Early College Schools (ECSs) opened by fall 2009. All of the schools aim to provide underserved students access to college classes while in high school. This article will provide an overview of the first 6…

This paper posits the position that if higher education and secondary schools wish to increase students' college readiness, specifically in mathematics and critical thinking skills, continuous enrollment in secondary mathematics is one avenue worth exploring as opposed to increasing mathematics graduation requirements only in terms of Carnegie…