On any given day, around 400,000 youths involved in the child welfare system eventually prepare for the transition into safe and stable permanency placements. Although schools play an integral role in permanency planning and transition success, there are no evidence-based programs that focus solely on supporting and improving student educational…

The effects of transitions impact students across academic levels in many ways. The transition to high school can be a vulnerable time; moreover, it may be an optimal time for preventive interventions. As students matriculate and transition from middle to high school, a concentrated effort must be made to improve the practices to best support…

The purpose of the study was to explore the relationship between the implementation of freshman academies and student achievement in math, English, and science in schools in Arkansas. The study presents a review of the literature that discusses the ninth-grade year and the use of freshman academies to improve student achievement. The study…

Objective: Although most community college students intend to transfer to a 4-year college, few ultimately do. We sought to assess how student experiences of the Exploring Transfer (ET) program influenced transfer rates. The ET program was offered by a private, 4-year liberal arts college. Methods: We used data from a cross-sectional survey of…

There is nationwide concern about the number of high-school students who graduate unprepared to take college-level courses and students' lack of awareness of their college readiness. According to the Center for Community College Student Engagement (2016), 86 percent of community college students thought they were prepared academically for college,…

While the transition from middle school to high school symbolized the coming of age, it is a time in a young person's life that can create feelings of isolation, disconnect, and an immeasurable sense of loneliness (DeJong & Locker, 2006). The organizational structure found in most public high schools presented problems for many ninth graders…

Transition to middle school in Portugal is associated with increased levels of stress for students, as well as an increase in grade retention. This study investigated the impact of a school adjustment program designed to support students during this transition, and its differential results by gender and fourth-grade class size. Multilevel linear…

Using research focused on best practices, focus group information, and data analytics, the Title V: Focus on Student Success (FOSS) Grant created a model for the development, implementation, and evaluation of a summer bridge program. Results included increased academic performance indicators in first-year Hispanic college students. Validation for…

Graduating high school seniors who are college and career ready has become a focal point of our nation. The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program has been preparing college and career ready students who are first generation college-going students, from subgroups traditionally underrepresented in higher education, and from…

The Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID) program has been preparing students who are first generation. college-going students from subgroups traditionally underrepresented in higher education, and students from lower socioeconomic families for college and careers since 1980. The present study investigated the success of middle school…

We describe the development, implementation, and evaluation of a comprehensive preschool to third grade prevention program for the goals of sustaining services at a large scale. The Midwest Child-Parent Center (CPC) Expansion is a multilevel collaborative school reform model designed to improve school achievement and parental involvement from ages…

Summer bridge programs support post-secondary success by providing intensive, short-term academic and social resources while introducing college expectations and the cultural contexts of the institution. They typically are offered in the summer between high school graduation and the first term of college and vary in content, program size and…

The Success Boston initiative was launched in 2008 specifically to improve Boston public high school graduates' access to and success in college, particularly for members of groups traditionally underrepresented in college degree attainment. Higher college graduation rates, in turn, are expected to increase students' access to employment in such…

Students must leave high school with a diploma in order to compete in the global economy. However, many students enter high school lacking the academic skills needed to be successful and are not engaged in the educational process. Ninth grade represents one of the last opportunities that educators have to address these problems. The purpose of…

Access to middle class jobs increasingly requires a college degree or credential. Individuals with postsecondary education have competitive advantage in the labor market: even when a job does not explicitly require a degree, a candidate with a degree will tend to be hired over an equally qualified candidate without one. Low-income students, in…