This Policy Brief captures some of the challenges for students' math education trajectories, in light of the coronavirus pandemic, and it highlights three ways states can strengthen math pathways to improve student access and success. Specific policy options that states can consider include: (1) aligning high school math courses with postsecondary…

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…

Each year, almost one-fourth of all public high school students, and nearly one-third of all blacks, Hispanics, and Native Americans, fail to graduate from public high school with their class. Course failures and high school dropout rates are nationally higher in the ninth grade than in any other high school grade level, and 19% fail to graduate.…

When Texas state budgets resulted in a loss of direct funding for the transition of deaf and hard of hearing students', collaboration efforts for assisting these students became critical. Theresa Johnson, MEd, outreach specialist at the Educational Resource Center on Deafness in Austin, and John A. Serrano, MA, director of Academic Affairs at the…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the concept of the ninth grade academy structure in Texas high schools affects a variety of variables indicative of student achievement. Data representative of performance by students served in 30 schools with a separately structured ninth grade academy were compared to data representative of…

The 1990 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) reauthorization introduced transition mandates that included a "student involvement in transition planning" requirement, creating an emphasis on promoting such involvement so as to enhance the self-determination of students with disabilities and positive transition-related…

Seven high school students with emotional disturbance were interviewed regarding their perceptions of their school experiences in preparation for transition. Students received support services from a behavior intervention program but spent the majority of the school day in general education classes. Interview data were collectively coded and…

To successfully participate in today's global economy, young people must graduate high school with the skills and competencies that allow them to pursue further study and meaningful work. Yet the data around successful transition from high school to higher education, and then to the completion of a degree, show some alarming trends. In 2007, 70.5%…

This study examines the issues surrounding middle school students' transitions to high school and the degree to which freshman orientation models can help them. The attendance, discipline, report card grades, and end-of-course exams of 60 students who participated in a freshman orientation were compared to those of 150 students who were invited to…

The University of North Texas's Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science began admitting students to its 2-year early college entrance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) program in the fall of 1988. This program provided accelerated entry for top students in Texas in the areas of mathematics and science. Approximately 200…

Ninth grade often is considered a make-or-break year in determining whether students will be successful in high school and beyond. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) created the Texas Ninth Grade Transition and Intervention Program to ease the transition of at-risk students into high school and increase the likelihood that they graduate on time and…

Transition plans for students with special needs provide support for social and academic success while giving students an accurate picture of what to expect in high school. The Texas Comprehensive Center recommends that schools develop a comprehensive transition plan district-wide. This district plan must include the cooperation of staff from the…

In 2005, the Hildago (Texas) Independent School District, in partnership with the University of Texas-Pan American, the University of Texas System, the Communities Foundation of Texas/Texas High School Project, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, promised that all of its students would earn college credits before graduating from high…

An alarmingly high percentage of recent high school graduates are not prepared to succeed in college-level courses, and the impact of this educational shortcoming is substantial. Underprepared college students incur a monetary cost of enrolling in remedial courses, and states and taxpayers subsidize much of the overall cost of developmental…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to track, compare, and analyze the college readiness of two cohorts of Hispanic English Language Learners (ELLs) by examining scores on state exit-level and national college entrance exams. One cohort was enrolled in the early-exit Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE) program, while the other cohort was…