For many years, the General Educational Development (GED) credential has been viewed as the high school dropout's safety net. Though not as well regarded as the high school diploma, the GED has opened up educational and economic opportunity for millions of young people and adults who did not finish high school. Nearly 680,000 people take the full…

Ensuring effective progression from vocational qualifications to higher education has become an important issue internationally as a part of government strategies to raise skill levels and to provide more equitable access to tertiary level study. From September 2008, the Government in England has begun to introduce a new set of qualifications for…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

This Brief summarizes a report prepared to assist the U.S. Department of Education's College and Career Transitions Initiative (CCTI). The report presents a sample of state-level policies and legislation that support the implementation of career pathways and other strategies that facilitate educational and employment transitions. Data gathering…

In this article, the author shares the voices of adults whose lives have been changed by their enrollment in a set of innovative college readiness programs geared toward adults. These women and men have overcome obstacles between them and college that they believed were insurmountable--fear, inadequate academic preparation, lack of information…

On August 1, 2006, Hawaii state educational and policy leaders participated in the Hawaii Education Forum to discuss ways to improve student transition from high school to postsecondary education and careers. The forum was sponsored by the League for Innovation in the Community College and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and supported…

This chapter examines recent attempts to promote students' transitions into postsecondary education. In particular, it focuses on the evolution of career and technical education (CTE) to promote student transition by coupling more rigorous academic preparation with CTE programs.

After German reunification in 1990, a common, comparable school structure was successfully established. Instead of attending mostly vocational high schools, East German students now choose among three school types: a college preparatory "Gymnasium"; a technical-clerical, intermediate "Realscuhle"; and a manual-labor oriented…

While the majority of adults who take the General Educational Development (GED) test do so in order to continue their education, few go on to enter postsecondary education. Yet, these same adults stand to make substantial economic and personal gains when they use their adult secondary credential to move from the ranks of high school dropout to…

As the number and diversity of high school graduates increase, secondary school systems and colleges must work together to prepare students for the demands of higher education and the labor force. This document describes a partnership between Montgomery College (Maryland) and Montgomery County Public School district that is focused on student…

The paper describes a week-long transition education program for hearing-impaired high-school students, offered by the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. The college experience program is designed for deaf students between their junior and senior years of high school and has been implemented for 4 years. The program focuses on career…

A 75-citation annotated bibliography on the secondary to postsecondary transition of learning-disabled (LD) students is preceded by a brief review of the literature addressing the following areas: secondary education and the LD adolescent; postsecondary services and the LD adult; vocational or job-related skill development; and transition issues…

Increasing numbers of capable learning disabled students are attempting to make the difficult transition from high school to postsecondary programming. A comprehensive approach to better serve the college-bound learning disabled high school student includes early transition planning, instructional programming, social skills intervention, and…

In October 1996, the Big Picture Company set out to find six urban high schools that use school-to-work strategies as a lever for whole-school reform. In the schools finally selected for the New Urban High Schools Project, and in others examined for the study, "school-to-work" is a misnomer, because the majority of students are entering…

The National Capacity Building Institute 2001 meetings on transition to postsecondary education for people with disabilities included nationally recognized speakers, discussion groups focusing on current issues, and commentary from consumer/professionals. This document is a record of the proceedings and outcomes. Papers presented include: (1)…