If everyone needs an education through two years of college or the equivalent, then the nation has an obligation to provide a far more certain pathway for postsecondary success than it does now. Because so many young people fail to complete the final years of high school, graduate but do not apply to college, or begin postsecondary education only…

Educational policy debates around the definitions of, and prescriptions for, the development of qualified teachers have long ignored the role that social foundations can play in equipping new teachers for their roles in urban classrooms (Butin, 2005a; 2005b; Cochran-Smith, 2004; Sirotnik, 1990). This article examines the voices of a set of urban…

Offering a primer on action research methodologies and examples of practice, "Students in Transition: Research and Practice in Career Development" responds to a dual challenge facing career development educators--designing cutting-edge career development interventions and demonstrating their effectiveness. Overviews of quantitative and qualitative…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing, and summarizing the data for Indicator 1--Graduation--from the FFY 2009 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and amended State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted by states to the Office of Special Education…

The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is the fifth in a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) secondary longitudinal studies. The core research questions for HSLS:09 explore secondary to postsecondary transition plans and the evolution of those plans; the paths into and out of science, technology, engineering,…

Project SUCCESS sought to recruit, train, and support paraprofessionals and mid-career adults in high-need teaching fields (math, science, special education, bilingual) in transitioning to teach in high-need schools. A 27-minute video was produced to supplement reporting of project evaluation outcomes. This paper highlights procedures and…

Several national and international assessments have demonstrated that there has been little improvement in the performance of American high school students in recent decades. High school students are increasingly underprepared for transition into college-level course-work. One new approach to high school redesign, "early college," seeks…

In 1981, Lighthouse Youth Services, a private nonprofit agency in Cincinnati, Ohio, began one of the first independent living programs for adolescents in the state. The local county children's services supervisors and Lighthouse administrators had been hearing numerous stories of youth who had left the county's foster and group homes and were…

The transition from a care setting to face the often grim realities of living more independently is arguably the most significant challenge that faces those who have been in public care and the workers offering them support. In the Scottish context, the past ten years have witnessed a growing awareness and engagement with this challenge, informed…

This article argues that judicious use of mobile phone text messaging by university staff has the potential to enhance the support provided to students by an academic department during the transition to university. It reports on an evaluation of a desktop computer application, "Student Messenger," which enables staff to send text…

Strengthening Pre-collegiate Education in Community Colleges (SPECC) is a multi-site action-research project, focused on teaching and learning in pre-collegiate mathematics and English language arts courses at 11 California community colleges. In this report, the author discusses the data gathered over the course of the SPECC project and reflects…

Rising remediation rates among college students are leading to increased time for completion of degree, additional costs for students and colleges, and financial aid being used on courses that do not count towards a degree. In response to these issues, in 2007 the state of Illinois passed the College and Career Readiness Act, Public Act 095-0694,…

Due to the changes in disability legislation that protect persons with disabilities from discrimination, and allow for free, appropriate public education along with equal access to education, more and more students with disabilities are choosing to attend postsecondary educational settings. The transition planning process as outlined in the…

This paper presents the annual report of the Association for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) for 2008. In 2008, ACNJ wrote a better ending for children by: (1) Advancing universal health care for children. ACNJ's assistant director chaired a state task force charged with getting more uninsured children enrolled in New Jersey's child health insurance…

Since receiving "Campus 2020 Thinking Ahead: The Report," the Ministry of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development has been reviewing its recommendations to improve post-secondary education in British Columbia. Several of these have been implemented, including: undertaking a review of student financial assistance and completing a…