College access and success programs, which typically take place during out-of-school time, range widely in their size, target demographics, and services offered. Although concerted funding and energy have been dedicated to college access programs, the field suffers from a significant research and practice gap. Studies have demonstrated that…

This qualitative historical single-case study examines how a practitioner-directed approach to professional development for teachers resulted in successful technology integration in a newly unified school district in California's Central Valley. The study details the process of creating and implementing a professional development plan for newly…

Supporting college and career readiness among youth who encounter significant academic and life challenges requires innovative strategies to help them envision their futures, leverage their strengths and develop dispositions that promote positive trajectories. For youth development professionals who develop and implement novel programmatic…

This brief, the third in a series produced by the California College Promise Project (CCPP) at WestEd, describes research conducted by the CCPP on the relationship between the 2017 legislation "Community Colleges: California College Promise" (AB19) and the structure of local College Promise programs. The analysis examines College Promise…

Formal mentoring has been an effective approach to mitigate challenges facing underserved youth and contributes to observable improvements in behavior, relationships, and emotional well-being. In recent years, virtual mentoring has emerged as a promising way to expand the provision of mentoring. By engaging virtually, mentorship programs can…

Increasingly, state departments of education, school districts, and high schools are recognizing that many students graduate from high school underprepared for college-level coursework in mathematics. Many are referred to remedial education when they arrive at college. To help students become better prepared for college and avoid remedial courses…

In this paper we investigate the impact of a statewide program aimed at better aligning K-12 to higher education and improving college readiness. We replicate an earlier study focused on the effects of this program at one campus by employing detailed administrative data on the census of California students that enroll at all twenty-three campuses…

The transition from middle school to high school is an important developmental period to investigate because of the negative impact it has on youths' academics. The purpose of this study was to investigate Latino youths' academic achievement prior to, during, and after the transition to high school, and gender differences in youths' achievement…

Over the past three years, California State University, Bakersfield received NSF funding to support hands-on explorations in "network security" and "cryptography" through Research Experience Vitalizing Science-University Program (REVS-UP). In addition to the summer bridge component, the grant included development of…

To support teachers in enhancing ocean literacy, the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education (C-MORE) has developed a series of portable, hands-on science kits on selected topics in oceanography. This paper provides an overview of kit content, describes how the kits were developed, and evaluates their efficacy as a curriculum…

After getting her master's degree from UCLA, Nancy Wills dreamed of starting a school-based guitar program so she could teach students to make music on the instrument she'd loved since she was a kid growing up outside of Yosemite, California. She had a strong belief that guitar was perfect for schools, ideal for individualized playing but also…

Although a growing body of research points to the critical need to foster reading, writing, speaking, and critical thinking skills for students in order to ensure their success in college, careers, and life, these efforts have tended to focus more on developing literacy skills in the early years, often ignoring secondary students. The outcome has…

A few school administrators in Clovis, California, began a quest to introduce online high school courses in their school district, believing it might cost less to teach classes online than it would to teach students face to face in a classroom. They figured instead of having one teacher fielding a load of 150 students per course, an online course…

The California Community Colleges are vital to closing the projected shortfall of Californians with a postsecondary credential and sustaining the state's economic competitiveness. Increasing the number of students who pursue and earn certificates and associate degrees in career technical education (CTE) fields is an important component of the…

The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning have awarded David Spence, its 2006 Virginia B. Smith Award for Innovative Leadership in Higher Education. Mr. Spence is formerly executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer of the California State University system and now…