A study was conducted to determine the extent to which high school graduates from Florida's Leon County needed remediation to enter college-level mathematics, reading, and writing courses. Records were examined for 2,705 high school graduates from 1992 to 1996 who were first-time college students in a Florida public community college or state…

Project LEAP (Learning English-for-Academic-Purposes) is a three-year faculty development and supplemental instruction partnership to improve the academic literacy skills of native-born, immigrant, and international language minority students. Course teams composed of discipline faculty, peer study group leaders, and professional language…

Studies show that community colleges with more liberal arts courses have higher rates of transfer to four-year institutions than those with a less general curriculum. This paper surveys the research conducted on the community college collegiate function in order determine the influence of the liberal arts curriculum and student support services on…

POLYTECH High School in Woodside, Delaware, has gone from being among the worst schools in the High Schools That Work (HSTW) network to among the best. Polytech, which is now a full-time technical high school, has improved its programs and outcomes by implementing a series of organizational, curriculum, teaching, guidance, and leadership changes,…

This document examines various efforts to reform education by institutions of higher education, by states and local school systems, and by the federal government. It charges that many K-12 reform policies are moving secondary and postsecondary education in disparate directions. Problems identified include a lack of authentic measures for student…

The education of all the children of all the people is an ideal that has received nation-wide acceptance in the United States. Historically, the secondary school is an institution preparatory to specific education for leadership. In old-established societies, admission has been conditioned chiefly by the social rank of the pupil. In America, its…

The application of scientific method to the study of college problems in the field of curricula, methods, administration, and student personnel is increasing rapidly. The experimental method--the setting up of alternative procedures in such a way that the factor under study may be isolated for measurement--appeals more to college faculty members…

Describes the objectives, design, and implementation of the Lancaster Partnership Program, involving the Lancaster City School District (Pennsylvania), Millersville University, and three local corporations in efforts to increase the participation rate in higher education of Latino and African American high school students. Efforts focused on…

Describes Project Austin-East EXCEL, a pilot college preparatory program for inner-city minority high school students in Knoxville (Tennessee). Develops an "academic ethos" through the following components: (1) reading, writing, and foreign language program; (2) "demystification" of the college experience; and (3) career…

A study involving 199 private liberal arts college freshmen found a weak but statistically significant correlation between high school grade point average and freshman grade point average (FGPA) but not between Scholastic Aptitude Test scores and FGPA. For academically underprepared freshmen, motivation-related noncognitive variables significantly…

Using network data from 40 groups, we examine the effect of social context on the gendering of power relations. By modeling reported data on power relations as the result of a stochastic response process that may be gendered, we examine how this gendering is related to group-level contextual factors. We find that much of what appears to be a…

This article identifies (a) what we know about youths with emotional or behavioral disorders (E/BD) and what works in preparing them for the transition to adult life; (b) the key features of No Child Left Behind (NCLB; 2001) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA); and (c) recommendations for working within the requirements of…

In the state of Florida, several of the principles of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) have been enacted earlier than at the federal level. For example, the Florida Comprehensive Achievement Test (FCAT) is required for all students through grade 10 and must be passed for promotion to grade 3 and for high school graduation. Schools are graded A through…

This case study is part of a broader research project examining state policies and governance structures that span K-12 and postsecondary education. Florida has implemented some of the most sweeping education governance changes of any state; all levels of education are housed in the Department of Education, which is overseen by a commissioner who…

The United States is losing high-paying jobs to countries that produce a more reliable supply of college graduates in math and science. Texas faces its own economic slowdown if it is unable to graduate more students with bachelor's degrees. The state has been addressing many of the obstacles students face in earning a four-year degree. Outreach…