Preparing high school students to skillfully and successfully navigate the pathway to college is a growing concern among researchers and policymakers. This issue has raised important questions about what urban school districts can do to build capacity among their high schools to guide students and families toward successful college transitions.…

When Jasper Place High School in Edmonton began shifting its attention away from competing for more students from its feeder junior high schools and toward better student retention, it found that the transitional process was the key to success. Jasper Place principal and counselors worked with their counterparts in the junior high schools to…

Minnesota's Intervention for College Attendance Program (ICAP) is a program of competitive grants awarded to postsecondary institutions, professional organizations and community-based organizations. Funded programs focus on increasing the access and success of groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education by strengthening their…

The CollegeKeys Compact[TM] is a national call to action to school districts, colleges and universities, state education agencies, and nonprofit organizations to identify, share and expand programs and practices that address the needs and challenges of low-income students and help them get ready for, get into and get through college. The College…

Minnesota's Intervention for College Attendance Program (ICAP) is a program of competitive grants awarded to postsecondary institutions, professional organizations and community-based organizations. Funded programs focus on increasing the access and success of groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education by strengthening their…

Philadelphia made early investments in reforms designed to address the challenges of large neighborhood high schools, including supports for the critical ninth grade transition year. Well over a decade later, our research shows that freshman year interventions are frequently not implemented in ways that maximize their effectiveness. This policy…

This paper investigates one aspect of the transition of students from high school to college. It assesses whether students who had an academic ethic in high school performed better in their first semester of college than students who did not possess an academic ethic in high school. Survey data were collected from students at a medium-sized state…

In 2007, the Basic Skills Initiative (BSI) was launched in California's 109 (now 110) community colleges. This initiative responds to an increasing awareness that state policies favoring "open access" also result in the enrollment of large numbers of students who are underprepared to succeed in college-level work. Identified as a key…

This best practices piece is based on key research into high school transition strategies. It draws on two studies of high school reform models conducted by MDRC, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization, which shed light on promising strategies to support ninth-grade students. Increasing the capacity of high schools to provide extra help…

Minnesota's Intervention for College Attendance Program (ICAP) is a program of competitive grants awarded to postsecondary institutions, professional organizations and community-based organizations. Funded programs focus on increasing the access and success of groups traditionally underrepresented in higher education by strengthening their…

This study examined transitional experiences of first-year college students who were homeschooled in high school. It sought to determine if experiences of such students corresponded with Tinto's (1988, 1993) theory of student departure. The qualitative study found that there was little distinction between the transitional experiences of…

Research indicates that academic achievement from middle school to high school decreases while behavior problems, suspensions and expulsions increase early in ninth grade. Hertzog and Morgan found in their research in Georgia and Florida, that those high schools that just did building tours and meetings with school counselors for strictly…

The author discusses the advantages of student self-government and describes the work of student committees at Belper High School, Derbyshire, in setting up a student coffee shop, planning school sports, and orienting new students. (SJL)

Many students with disabilities entering the 9th grade express concern about getting lost in the larger high school environment, being picked on by older students, and having more challenging academic classes. The transition from middle-to-high school process for students with disabilities at Westminster High School in suburban Los Angeles is a…

This handbook is intended to provide parents and students with an orientation to the high schools in the Rowland Unified School District (California). It can also serve as a model for other districts and schools which are developing orientation handbooks. Topics which are covered include: (1) school district personnel; (2) counseling and guidance…