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…

Alternative grading methods, such as standards-based grading, provide students multiple opportunities to demonstrate their understanding of the learning outcomes in a course. These grading methods allow for more flexibility and help promote a growth mindset by embracing constructive failure for students. Implementation of these alternative grading…

Open-access colleges are an important pathway to economic mobility for millions of Americans. But graduation rates at these colleges are low--for example, only 36 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen at community colleges graduate within three years. Over the last two decades, MDRC and others have conducted research to build the evidence base…

University-community partnerships (UCPs) are increasingly utilized to address issues in education. In this article, we present reflections on best practices for child- and family-focused UCPs. These reflections emerged before, during, and after a convening that brought together representatives from five UCPs in the United States that emphasized…

The purpose of this article is to highlight one unique program at a university in the upper midwest and how its PETE program formed a partnership with the homeschool community in the area. Seven key steps are outlined within this article for considering a partnership between a PETE program and the homeschool community: (1) assessing the community,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of receiving an associate's degree via reverse credit transfer on retention and bachelor's degree attainment for students in Hawaii and Minnesota who transferred from a community college to a university before earning an associate's degree. Results showed mostly positive evidence with some…

Community colleges and broad-access universities (those with minimally selective admissions policies) provide an opportunity for students across the United States to attain postsecondary degrees and economic mobility. However, graduation rates from such colleges are often low and there are many obstacles that can be difficult to overcome,…

Parent engagement is one approach to decrease the opportunity gap for Black, American Indian, and all children of color. This report from the field describes the use of the World Café participatory approach to support parent engagement in five early childhood, culturally embedded Montessori programs. Serving the Whole Child (SWC) is a…

Schools are increasingly turning towards restorative practices as a pathway to building schools with stronger relationships, justice, and equity. While effectiveness studies are increasing, too little attention is focused on evaluating implementation. This resources is for audiences who evaluate implementation of whole school restorative practices…

The focus of each Technology Solutions for Adult Basic Skills Challenges column begins with a common challenge facing adult basic skills practitioners. This article examines a technology solution to two large and related challenges: student engagement and student persistence, which, from a program or school perspective, is often described as…

College completion rates are low--nearly 40 percent of students do not earn a degree within six years of enrolling in college. Community college students face the highest hurdles--about 60 percent are without a degree six years after matriculating. Research has identified strategies that institutions can use to improve student success and degree…

College education is fundamental to students' upward mobility, states' economic growth, and the country's economic competitiveness. Researchers have forecast that 63 percent of future jobs will require a college degree, yet in the coming years the United States will likely produce 3 million fewer college graduates than are needed to fill workforce…

Many employers report difficulty finding qualified candidates for jobs, while millions of American workers are under- or unemployed. At the core of this issue is a startling perception gap involving the skills needed for workplace success. Postsecondary educators -- including those at community colleges -- who prepare workers live on one side of…

Ramp-Up to Readiness™ (Ramp-Up) is a program for middle and high school students that aims to provide greater depth and breadth of support for college readiness than do current supports. This study examined whether students' ACT Engage goal setting and commitment to college scale scores as well as the likelihood of key enrollment actions such as…

College enrollment has increased over the past 10 years and is projected to continue growing over the next 10 for both full- and part-time students. At the same time, institutions face low retention and graduation rates. One policy that shows promise in increasing completion rates, especially for adult learners and those who served in the…