Too few students are graduating from high school college and career-ready. For this dissertation, a qualitative design that included a data analysis was implemented to review a dual enrollment program and the impact of implementing various change ideas to increase enrollment of students in the program. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase…

This brief is part of the Affirming Equity, Ensuring Inclusion, and Empowering Action initiative. The brief describes the emerging practice of direct admissions, including how the practice has been designed, what outcomes it has produced, and considerations for policymakers debating the implementation of a direct admissions program in their state…

The Accelerate Cancer Education (ACE) summer research program at The University of Kansas Cancer Center (KUCC) is a six-week, cancer-focused, summer research experience for high school students from historically marginalized populations in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Cancer affects all populations and continues to be the second leading…

Community partnerships present opportunities for expanding students' learning experiences outside traditional classroom settings. However, under-resourced low-income communities often lack access to such opportunities. This qualitative study explores how high school teachers, community liaisons, and community partners establish and sustain…

Text Steps was a project piloted by Ascendium Education Group in 2015 and expanded to 13 school districts in Wisconsin between 2018 and 2020. Its goal was to combat summer melt through a texting program. Summer melt, in which college-intending high school students are unable to enroll in the fall for any number of reasons, is a well-documented…

Dual enrollment allows high school students to participate in college courses, earning both high school and college credits. Although many high schools offer dual enrollment to all students, past research has demonstrated a significant gap in the participation of low-income students and students of color compared to their White and Asian…

Education thought leaders highlight the need to expand access to high-quality STEM learning for students historically underrepresented in STEM fields, and project-based learning (PjBL) is often seen as a key strategy. Introducing PjBL to classrooms typically focuses on building teacher capacity, but principals also play a key role in effective…

Universal Free Application for Financial Student Aid (FAFSA) policies are being implemented in states as a way to eliminate financial barriers to college enrollment and completion for underrepresented student groups. High school counselors play a critical role in helping students complete this graduation requirement. Texas adopted a universal…

To counter tuition and textbook costs for degree-seeking students, a specific pathway to a bachelor's degree in Leadership was developed. The pathway, comprised of partnerships with the high school Leadership Academy at a public high school, community college, and Old Dominion University (ODU), reduced tuition and textbook costs, allowing the…

Although the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Framework has been effective in designing tools and lessons, implementation of the Framework to design entire learning environments possesses its own limitations in research. This paper describes a quasi-experimental study of the effects of a professional development program on teachers'…

In the 2017/2018 academic year, the government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Education, began an educational reform policy codenamed the "Free Senior High School" (FSHS) policy to fully absorb the cost, increase enrolment, and improve the quality of education for all public senior high schools in Ghana. To accommodate more students…

Also known as "free tuition" and "free college" programs, college promise programs are an emerging approach for increasing higher education attainment of people in particular places. To maximize the effectiveness of their efforts and investments, program leaders and policymakers need research-based evidence to inform program…

Although previous research exists on making adaptations for students with Visual Impairments (VI) in online settings, there is limited research on the teaching and learning dynamics of students with VI during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since responses to the pandemic made it difficult for students with VI to participate in educational opportunities…

When San Francisco implemented a new policy to improve graduation rates and college enrollment, district officials realized their work was only beginning. San Francisco Unified School District revamped its college-ready graduation policy in 2009, hoping to increase the likelihood that students would graduate with the necessary courses to go to a…

Secondary schools in Ghana are mainly classified as day or day/boarding, single sex or mixed, stratified into resourced (elite) or less resourced whilst academic delivery is via academic or technical-vocational programmes. This categorization has also bred performing and underperforming inequities suggesting the absence of equal access to quality…