The increasing shift for higher education institutions to recognize career readiness as an institutional priority (Cruzvergara et al., 2018) is leading the need to identify ways to scale student engagement in at least one high-impact practice (HIP), such as experiential learning opportunities, prior to graduation (Huang et al., 2018).…

Guided pathways reforms require colleges to rethink how they teach and support students. The case studies in Part 2 of this practitioner packet examine how colleges at the forefront of these reforms are transforming their programs and support services by implementing three key guided pathways practices: (1) meta-majors (clusters of programs in…

Two-thirds of high school students get less than eight to 10 hours of sleep per night according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Sleep deprivation in teens has been linked to poor academic performance, reduced immunity, obesity, ADD-like symptoms, and even drug and alcohol use. For years, experts have said that early school…

The Academy of Information Technology and Robotics (AITR) in the Volusia County (Florida) Schools district is leading students to stronger academic gains and better preparation for college and career. AITR is a beefed-up version of the career academy model that began in Philadelphia in 1969. The strengths of AITR exemplify the features of career…

This Self-Study Guide has been developed to support Florida Voluntary Prekindergarten Providers (VPK) who are required to complete an improvement plan process (i.e., low-performing providers). The guide has sections that can be used during both the process of selecting target areas for an improvement plan and the process of implementing new or…

What happens when teams from 57 cities building afterschool systems gather to discuss two key system responsibilities--improving afterschool programs and using data for informed decision-making? Lots of rich discussion. This report covers a national afterschool conference held in February 2013. It details what mayors, program providers, system…

In 1996, the Florida State Board of Community Colleges conducted a review of English as a Second Language (ESL) programs in the state's community colleges to determine the status of instruction for degree-seeking Limited English Proficient (LEP) students and make recommendations for institutional and state-level policies. The process included a…

Because most vocational decision makers in Florida lack in-depth knowledge of how vocational education developed in the state, a six-year historical study was conducted to provide a narrative history as an aid for identifying recurring policy issues. Traditional historical research in libraries and archives was conducted and oral history…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

The TALPS study aims to build on the existing research base to develop promising methodologies to identify chronically low-performing and turnaround schools, as well as to identify promising strategies for turning around chronically low-performing schools. By looking specifically at schools identified as turnaround, in comparison to nonturnaround…

The National Center on Scaling up Effective Schools (NCSU) is a five-year project working to develop, implement, and test new processes to scale up effective practices in high schools that districts will be able to apply within the context of their own unique goals and circumstances. This report describes the activities and findings of the first…

Florida's community college and school district postsecondary adult vocational programs in fire fighter training and fire science technology were subjected to a statewide program review. Efforts were made to reach Florida's entire community of career and volunteer fire fighters. Data were collected in the following ways: site interviews with…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

While numerous recent authors have studied the effects of school accountability systems on student test performance and school "gaming" of accountability incentives, there has been little attention paid to substantive changes in instructional policies and practices resulting from school accountability. The lack of research is primarily…

The major challenge that school districts face is to improve the learning of all students, not just in individual schools, but across the entire system of schools. Duval County, Florida has embarked on a remarkable journey to implement standards-based reform in schools throughout the district with the intent to systematically improve teaching and…