More than 6 million young people in the United States are out of school, out of work, and, often it seems, out of luck. That's 17 percent of Americans between the ages of 16 and 24. This population includes dropouts and high school graduates, former foster children and juveniles in court custody; youth caring for siblings and teens cycling in and…

The Accelerating Opportunity initiative helps our nation's lowest-skilled adults earn college credentials and enter higher-wage jobs faster by combining the Adult Basic Education and career and technical training they need into one integrated curriculum. Based on four years of designing and managing Accelerating Opportunity, Jobs for the Future…

A striking convergence of research, documentation, commentary, and policy in the past five years strongly suggests that an almost exclusive focus on academic knowledge and skills is an incomplete solution. Additional behaviors, skills, and mindsets--sometimes called metacognitive skills or 21st-century skills--are just as necessary for academic…

Among the diverse and varied missions of community colleges is the provision of instruction for students who have either been underserved by their previous educational institutions or not had the opportunity to complete high school. Included under this umbrella are low-performing high school students, individuals with low basic skills, and those…

Thirty thousand young people who entered ninth grade in the School District of Philadelphia's Classes of 2000-05 failed to graduate four years later. Resulting losses are huge--to lifetime earnings and employment for these young people, to government revenues, and to the regional economy. Fortunately, a renewed interest in the out-of-school youth…

This snapshot is a guide to the School District of Philadelphia's (the District's) 13 accelerated high schools in the 2010-11 school year. The accelerated high schools were the result of a partnership between the District and Project U-Turn, a city-wide coalition dedicated to reducing student drop-out and increasing graduation rates and readiness…

For over 17 years, Boston Day and Evening Academy has served a population of young people often left behind: those who are off track to high school graduation or who have dropped out altogether. Through its competency-based approach, BDEA has tackled one of the toughest education conundrums of our time: how to recover low-skilled students two or…

Adult education services, including education for those lacking basic literacy and numeracy, preparation for the high school equivalency diploma, and English-as-a-second-language courses, play a crucial role in bridging the basic skills gap for Latinos and other workers with limited formal education and training. With recent policy and program…

North Queens Community High School serves approximately 200 students, 16-20 years old, as they strive to reach their personal and academic goals. All students at North Queens have previously been enrolled in high school elsewhere and are over-age and undercredited. Small class sizes, student-centered support, and an accelerated credit acquisition…