After schools closed in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students, families and teachers had to shift learning from in-class to online. But the switch to remote learning was hasty and disorganized in many school districts. Families struggled with the technology and coordinating schedules at home, while teachers tried to shift the…

The American dream--the belief that anyone is capable of upward mobility and a better life than the one in which they were born--is in jeopardy. According to Harvard economist Raj Chetty, American families are experiencing reduced upward mobility across generations. Education is the key to reversing the trajectory of upward mobility, imparting…

Postsecondary education is awash in data. Postsecondary institutions track data on students' demographics, academic performance, course-taking, and financial aid, and have put these data to use, applying data analytics and data science to issues in college completion. Meanwhile, an extensive amount of higher education data are being collected…

Despite all of the celebratory rhetoric around our nation's declining dropout rates, during a given year, nearly 20 percent of students expected to graduate do not. Furthermore, according to Johns Hopkins University and Civic Enterprises, "unacceptably low levels of minority, low-income, English Language Learners, and special education…

In mid-March 2020, the emergence of COVID-19 throughout the United States led to programmatic changes at most higher education institutions, including those involved in implementing model demonstration projects known as Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disability (TPSID) projects. This Insight Brief describes…

Institutional research (IR) experts can offer a wealth of knowledge to many campus departments, such as assessment. Utilization of dashboard techniques is a good way to improve the quality of university information that is available to support assessment research and do so in an efficient way. Institutional research at Wayne State University…

Even before the pandemic, the college/university business model was under scrutiny. With rising tuition costs outpacing living wages, and student debt burdens crippling students, institutions of higher learning were grappling with how to evolve. The COVID-19 pandemic introduced an abundance of obstacles that colleges had to face head on, but they…

This Executive Summary provides a brief overview of the entire Annual Report of the Cohort 3 TPSID Model Demonstration Projects (Year 1, 2020-2021). Information is provided about the TPSID projects about program characteristics, students characteristics, academics, academic supports, employment, vocational rehabilitation, residential services, and…

There is much discussion today about the need to transform higher education for the benefit of students, employers, and society at large. Experts and researchers list the numerous challenges: low student retention and graduation rates, the increasing cost of higher education, and concerns that graduates don't possess the skills required to compete…

Between 2010 and 2020, the Office of Postsecondary Education in the U.S. Department of Education funded 52 model demonstration projects called Transition and Postsecondary Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities (TPSIDs). These grantees created or expanded inclusive higher education programs, enrolling 4,279 students with intellectual…

The LaGuardia Community College Student Technology Mentor (STM) program demonstrates how a college's own students can become resources for the technology development of faculty, the improvement of teaching tools, and the expansion of library services. The program also illustrates how the Student Technology Mentors themselves benefit from campus…

Many children and their families in rural America need better and more equitable educational opportunities. "Leveling the Playing Field" highlights the many and varied opportunities for Congress to act to ensure rural students receive the education they need and are given an equitable chance to succeed. The following policy initiatives…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) "Building a Grad Nation": New Report Finds More than Half of States Increased High School Graduation Rate, Number of "Dropout…

This article describes the collaborative evolution of the Midwest Center for Information Technology (MCIT)--which is a consortium of 10 different community colleges across the four states of Nebraska, Iowa, North Dakota, and South Dakota--that was established to improve information technology (IT) education across the region. MCIT has been funded…

One can hardly mention higher education today without hearing the word "innovation," or its understudies "change," "reinvention," "transformation." Last summer the National Governors Association opened its meeting with a plenary session on higher education, innovation, and economic growth. But there is nothing funny about the need for innovation…