The Middle East Study Tour (MEST) is a capstone elective unit that stands alone as a credit module towards an undergraduate degree. The tour has the dual purposes of exposing students to the Middle East region's political challenges and better illuminating potential career paths for life after university. But is one student's personal discovery…

The author conducted a two-year study of the career portfolio programs in place at high schools in two Midwestern communities. By pursuing this research project, the author was able to develop answers to his questions about career portfolios and student differences. More generally, this project allowed him to reflect on the ways all writing…

Trends among adolescents continue to be discouraging in terms of career and college readiness based on National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) achievement reports and high school graduation rate data. In response, this article presents five goals and eight strategies we have engaged in during a seven-year research study focused on…

The number of linguistically and culturally diverse students has been rapidly increasing in the United States. English language learner (ELL) enrollment has increased more than 50 percent from 1995-1996 to 2005-2006, composing about 10 percent of the total number of Pre-K-12 enrollment. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that 40 percent of the…

Based on NAEP data, many adolescents may not be adequately prepared for postsecondary education. This is a Year Five report from a seven-year longitudinal study of a student cohort starting in sixth grade year (n = 50). It uses a quasi-experimental design, and collects data from surveys, interviews, and reflective statements to evaluate mentoring…