While many high schools reproduce social inequalities in college access, little is known about the schools that successfully reduce them. To this end, Gorana Ilic and James E. Rosenbaum studied an urban high school that expressed a strong commitment to supporting all students' college applications. In this article, they describe the organizational…

Efforts to promote college for all for all has opened college doors to a broad range of students. But college--and career success after college--doesn't have to mean a bachelor's degree. Community college credentials, such as associate's degrees and one-year certificates, can lead to further degrees or jobs that offer more benefits than students…

This paper analyzes teacher responses to a distinctive reform that sought to ­implement alignment between high schools and colleges. A survey of 225 teachers is used to examine teachers' perceptions of the reform's effectiveness, further resources needed, and how perceptions changed over time. The reform was perceived as effective for…

Despite planning college, disadvantaged students are less likely to enroll in college, particularly 4-year colleges. Beyond cost and academic achievement, previous research finds that a lack of college-related social resources poses barriers. However, little research investigates whether schools can help. We examine whether, how, and for whom a…

Official school records are used to analyze the opportunity structure and selection mechanisms within a school. Critics' charges that tracking systems preclude choice and mobility are not entirely supported, but more complex and subtle mechanisms for restricting opportunity are found to operate. (Author)

Interviews with 27 counselors in 8 high schools demonstrate that counselors do not like to give students bad news about their college prospects and do not believe that they have the authority to do so. Counselors' unwillingness to act as gatekeepers may prevent students from getting the information they need. (SLD)

This paper studies two kinds of selection practices in schools, curriculum tracking and class ranking. Using multiple regression analyses of the National Longitudinal Survey (NLS), this paper finds that tracking and class ranks have important effects on whether students can attend college. However, it also finds that many students misperceive…

High schools have responded to the poor labor market primarily by encouraging college-for-all policies, leading the majority of seniors to plan to get college degrees, even those who perform poorly. School policies focus too narrowly on academic achievement, overlooking soft skills like motivation, dependability, attention to quality, and social…