Any policy proposal in education requires quality data to inform its development, implementation, and evaluation. In fact, the highest-profile education policy agendas currently discussed in states--ensuring that all students are taught by effective teachers and graduate from high school prepared for college and 21st-century careers--were…

This study was conducted to discover and examine school-level characteristics that can affect change in high school graduates from being college-eligible to college-ready. Using the National Educational Longitudinal Study (NELS:88), the article describes and interprets the results. Findings indicate school personnel (principals, teachers,…

Two-year colleges have an important role in the educational and economic advancement of the United States, particularly during the current economic crisis. They offer access to higher education for economically and/or educationally impoverished students, as well as for those who have simply returned for further study. Two-year colleges provide…

There is a widespread movement today to prepare all students for college, and it is promoted in the name of democracy. I argue here that such a move actually puts our democracy at risk by forcing students into programs that do not interest them and depriving them of courses at which they might succeed. We risk losing the vision of democracy that…

Twice a year, leaders from seven school districts from around the nation meet to discuss college life. They address the common problem of college readiness in their collective work to better prepare students for a productive future. While consortium members oversee school districts that are leaders in their respective states in terms of test…

In the authors' January 2010 "English Journal" article, "Helping Students Cross the Threshold: Implications from a University Writing Assessment," they showcase results of a large-scale writing assessment conducted at Central Michigan University, arguing that some of these results are especially relevant to English teachers…

This article explores the use of audiences in preparation for public presentation by an urban youth organization in Camden, New Jersey (U.S.). Camden is an impoverished city with few opportunities for youth. The organization, a hybrid of youth development, technology, business, and college preparation, prepared youth for good jobs or college.…

The University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez (UPRM) has found that there are disadvantages to a semester long remedial mathematics course that is administered during the freshmen year to students with mathematics deficiencies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs. Correspondingly, the UPRM designed and implemented an…

This paper presents the findings of an experiment in which a group of 17 French post-secondary EFL learners used Google to self-correct several "untreatable" written errors. Whether or not error correction leads to improved writing has been much debated, some researchers dismissing it is as useless and others arguing that error feedback…

Developmental education has been cited as one of the most difficult issues facing community colleges. Despite the controversy and changes to educational policy regarding developmental education, there is a notable dearth of rigorous research measuring the causal effect of remediation on community college student outcomes. The present study uses…

First-generation college students, students whose parents have not earned a four-year degree, are not new to higher education, but their increasing presence at private, four-year institutions requires careful attention from administration and faculty. The rising costs of higher education combined with the nation's recent economic decline have made…

A college-going culture has been found to improve academic outcomes for underrepresented high school students (Allen, Kimura-Walsh, & Griffin, 2009; Stanton-Salazar, 2010). The research on Catholic high schools shows their college-preparatory environment ability to produce successful outcomes for African-American and Latino students (Bryk,…

Recent handbooks of giftedness or expertise propose a plethora of conceptions on the development of excellent performance but, to our knowledge, there are no comparative studies that provide empirical evidence of their validity to guide researchers and practitioners in their adoption of a particular conception. This study sought to close that gap…

This paper begins by outlining the "education revolution" policy direction of the Australian federal government, and the ways in which it envisages meeting its goal of having a 40% of the population between 25 and 34 with a Bachelor's degree by 2025, and ensuring that 20% of tertiary students come form LSES backgrounds. This is…

Part of Carlow University's social justice mission is a commitment to providing access to education. This commitment can lead the institution to admit students who are not prepared for college-level work. As a result, the university recently removed a sequence of developmental classes because it lengthened the time to graduation, and there was no…