In dual enrollment programs, high school students can take college courses and earn both high school and college credit--but in the past, dual enrollment had been used mostly by high-achieving students. In 2016, the California Legislature passed a law that expanded access to students who had been underserved in higher education. The resulting…

College and university admission testing requirements often serve as a barrier to many students seeking advanced degrees. Many graduate school admission boards/committees use the minimum testing requirement as a predictor variable to explain a student's chance for success in a program. Before the 2020 Fall semester, many graduate schools required…

As community colleges are increasingly offering distance education courses, it is of great interest to examine student performance specifically in science courses. The objective of this study was to examine the student success and retention rates in anatomy courses that were offered face-to-face (F2F) compared to hybrid offerings. In the F2F…

How should colleges determine whether students are placed into developmental or college-level courses? Each year, colleges place millions of students into developmental math and English courses upon enrollment. To do so, colleges most often use a high-stakes placement test, which numerous research studies have shown to be highly inaccurate in…

This report focuses on a competency-based grading initiative at Carroll Middle School. The initiative was implemented from 2018-19 to 2020-21 to address the lack of alignment between report card grades and End-of-Grade (EOG) test results and was designed to ensure consistent delivery of standards-based instruction, formative assessment, and…

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…

The federal work-study program is one of the earliest forms of federal financial aid for higher education in the United States and has come under close scrutiny for its debatable impact on low-income students' college success and persistence. However, federal work-study surprisingly remains one of the least-studied financial aid programs. This has…

Meeting the intellectual needs of high-ability students does not end upon graduation from high school. However, limited attention is paid to the important topic of postsecondary advanced learning in the research literature. In this systematic review, we identified 52 empirical studies published during the past 15 years. Results suggest various…

While peer mentor programs for students with disabilities in higher education are increasing in prevalence, the research examining the effectiveness of these programs remains limited. In this study, the effect of one college peer mentoring program on academic performance at a small, private four-year university was examined. The sample was drawn…

Although the online delivery format can increase access to higher education, access does not necessarily translate to success for online learners. The purpose of this study was first to assess the needs of online students, particularly those with low GPAs and those who identified as male, at a graduate school of education. Results of a needs…

Colleges and universities have used programs like the summer bridge program (SBP) to improve academic abilities and retention. The research on the effectiveness of SBPs is inconclusive. With a focus those on who required remediation in writing, the purpose of this quantitative quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the influence of a SBP on…

The language and communication skills of foreign students have long been a concern in U.S. universities. The majority of U.S. universities require foreign students for whom English is not their native language to take English language proficiency tests such as the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) as part of admission requirements.…

Summer bridge programs (SBPs) are a popular programmatic intervention of colleges and universities to assist students with the transition from high school to college and provide students with the academic and social tools they need to be successful. Despite their popularity, a survey of relevant literature indicated that bridge programs are not…

Objective: This study examined the effects of offering proactive student-success coaching, informed by predictive analytics, on student academic performance and persistence. Specifically, this study investigated semester grade point average (GPA) and semester-to-semester persistence of community college students as outcomes. Methods: This study…

We provide theory and evidence about how the design of college financial aid programs affects a variety of high school, college, and life outcomes. The evidence comes from an eight-year randomized trial where 2,587 high school ninth graders received a $12,000 merit-based grant offer. During high school, the program increased their college…