To boost college graduation rates, policymakers often advocate for academic supports such as coaching or mentoring. Proactive and intensive coaching interventions are effective, but are costly and difficult to scale. We evaluate a relatively lower-cost group coaching program targeted at first-year college students placed on academic probation.…

Over the years, the nation's large urban school districts have consistently learned from the progress of their peer districts across the country. Great City School districts that have embraced the challenge of educating America's urban children have recognized the value of benchmarking their performance and growth against the progress of others.…

Great City School districts that have embraced the challenge of educating America's urban children have recognized the value of benchmarking their performance and growth against the progress of others. This report presents a number of different ways that member districts can analyze the data themselves by disaggregating results, showing trends,…

In 2013, the Council of the Great City Schools (CGCS) published the first-ever report on English language learners (ELLs) enrolled in member districts, reporting on a range of indicators in addition to ELL enrollment and languages spoken by such students. This report updates most of the data presented in the 2013 Council ELL report, shedding light…

This publication provides results of a longitudinal study of young firms and their owners. Data represent the responses of a national sample of new business owners (N=2,994) who were members of the National Federation of Independent Business in May 1985 and had been in business for no more than 17 months with the average respondent owning the…

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of minority students who take the General Knowledge Test of the National Teachers Examination (NTE) Core Battery. Low minority pass rates on these tests demonstrate the need for interventions to increase the supply of minority teachers. Data were analyzed to determine candidates': (1)…

In fall 1984, the first group of potential Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) graduates took the College Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) as a requirement for obtaining an associate degree or being admitted to the upper division at a state university. Of the 997 first-time test takers, three quarters passed the test. A study was conducted to…

School districts in New Jersey were required to report to the State Department of Education data pertaining to the impact of the state's high school graduation law (Chapter 241, Public Law 1979) on the 1987-88 graduating class. Data were collected through a form completed by all public school districts issuing diplomas. Of the 77,680 students in…

The third in a series of four monographs, this study focuses on Black engineering students at Purdue University who persisted, withdrew, or transferred. A survey of the students was conducted to determine factors that influence retention and attrition of Black American students in engineering. A comparison of the pre-college and college…

A study was conducted at William Rainey Harper College (WRHC) in Palatine, Illinois, to evaluate the effectiveness of a new academic probation intervention program. Probationary students are those who are warned the previous semester but whose grade point averages (GPA's) still fall below 2.0 (4-point scale). Students on probation must participate…

A new elementary retention policy was implemented in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in 1981-82. The AISD Board of Trustees requested a three-year study of the impact and effectiveness of the policy. This report describes results from the second year of the study, including the effect of the change in policy on staff development,…