Access to college has increased substantially over the last 50 years, but student success--defined as the combination of academic achievement and degree or certificate completion--has largely remained stagnant. The gap between access and success is particularly noteworthy for male Black and Hispanic students, whose college completion rates lag…

Extended Learning Opportunities Summer Adventures in Learning (ELO SAIL) is a Montgomery County Public Schools summer program for students in all Title I elementary schools; it targets students who will be in kindergarten-Grade 2 in the fall following the program. This report analyzed demographic characteristics of attendees and the impact of the…

The Office of Shared Accountability in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) is conducting a multiyear evaluation of the Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program. The ACES program is a collaboration between MCPS, Montgomery College (MC) and the Universities at Shady Grove to create a seamless pathway from high school to college…

The goal of the Howard Hughes Science Institute (HHMI) supported science program is to train one staff member to become a science lead within each of the elementary schools in the Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) district. The specific objectives of the first year of HHMI grant project were to: (1) provide approximately 20…

The Office of Shared Accountability evaluated the "Universal Design for Learning" (UDL) projects during spring 2013. UDL is an instructional framework that seeks to give all students equal opportunities to learn, by providing multiple means of representation, of action and expression, and of engagement. To inform future implementation…

This brief describes an evaluation of the "Online Pathway to Graduation" (OPTG) program in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) during the 2012-2013 school year. The OPTG program provides students who participate in an alternative learning opportunity to earn course credits and graduate from high school. The purposes of the…

Students who received mental health services at a Linkages to Learning (LTL) site showed improvement on some measures of well-being and school engagement, including self-ratings of self-concept and attendance. Families who received case management services showed improvement on multiple areas of self-sufficiency, and large percentages of…

The MCPS Office of Shared Accountability conducted an evaluation of the "High School Plus" (HS+) program implemented in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS). HS+ is one of the intervention programs offered by MCPS to provide additional ways of earning high school credits for students who have failed courses required for…

The Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success (ACES) program is a collaboration between MCPS, Montgomery College, and the Universities at Shady Grove to create a seamless pathway from high school to college completion; it targets students who are underrepresented in higher education, the first in their family to attend college, or both. As one…

The Office of Shared Accountability in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS) is conducting a multiyear evaluation of the "Achieving Collegiate Excellence and Success" (ACES) program. ACES is a collaboration between MCPS, Montgomery College (MC), and the Universities at Shady Grove (USG) to create a seamless pathway from high…

The Office of Shared Accountability conducted an evaluation of the implementation of the third and final year (2012-2013) of the "Science, Technology, and Engineering Leadership Program" (STELP) in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS). Funding for STELP, including the evaluation study, is provided by a grant from the Howard…

The Office of Shared Accountability (OSA) conducted an evaluation of the implementation of the second year (2011-2012) of the Science, Technology, and Engineering Leadership Program (STELP) in Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools (MCPS). Funding for STELP, including the evaluation study, is provided by a grant from the Howard Hughes Medical…

Quality Rating Systems (QRS) are currently operating, under development, or being piloted in over 25 states or local areas. As the QRS model becomes integrated into the landscape of child care and education service delivery, policy, and the decisions parents make about child care across the United States, there is an increasing need for…

The "Personnel Development Program to Improve Services and Results for Children with Disabilities" is authorized under Section 662 of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and is known as the Personnel Development Program (PDP). The PDP is administered by the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) Office of Special…

Every year 1.3 million U.S. high school students drop out of school with one quarter of female students failing to graduate on time. Female dropouts are more likely to be unemployed, to earn less when they are employed, to become pregnant before the age of 20, to become obese, to smoke, and to drink more heavily than their male counterparts. This…