For the 2014 study, "Stand and Deliver: Effects of Boston's Charter High Schools on College Preparation, Entry, and Choice," researchers measured the effects of attending Boston's charter high schools on students' reading and math achievement, high school graduation, and college outcomes. Six Boston charter schools that include one or…

Until the late 1990s, "vocational education" in traditional trades such as carpentry, cosmetology, and auto mechanics was often the presumptive high school placement for low-performing students considered ill-suited for college. However, in the past two decades, policymakers and educators have reconsidered what is now referred to as…

The purpose of this study is to describe and examine the structures and policies a public, comprehensive high school put in place to implement problem-based learning (PBL) across content areas. Starting in 2010, the school implemented PBL in the hopes of increasing students' career and college readiness skills. The research took place at a…

It is widely accepted that postsecondary education has become a necessity for US youth. College access, however, has been found not to be equal for all. As a result, federally funded college-readiness programs, such as Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP), have been established to increase the numbers of…

The National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) was established to provide professional development to school leaders to drive their schools to high performance. The program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in…

This study examined the impact of NISL's [National Institute for School Leadership's] Executive Development Program for principals on student achievement in Pennsylvania schools between 2006-2009. Roughly half of the NISL-trained principals started the program during the 2007 school year and completed it in the 2008 school year, whereas the other…

Performance was examined for five cohorts of 1998-2002 Texas public high school graduates through their first year and 1998-2001 cohorts through their fourth year of Texas public higher education. Student performance on college outcomes included (a) first- and fourth-year grade point averages (GPAs), (b) first- and fourth-year credit hours earned,…

The evaluation of the New Century High Schools (NCHS) initiative examined operations and student outcomes in 75 schools from 2002-2003 through 2005-2006. This report, the final in a series of annual evaluation reports, presents data collected over those years, with a focus on school year 2005-2006. The NCHS initiative grew out of a program theory…