Policy makers have taken more interest in career and technical education (CTE) in recent years, but evidence regarding what kinds of programs produce the most important outcomes is still emerging. Shaun M. Dougherty summarizes what recent research tells us about the impact of these programs. Evidence has shown that CTE-dedicated schools, career…

Responding to an earlier "Phi Delta Kappan" article, the author rejects the argument that East Asian students' high scores on international educational assessments come at the expense of learning to be creative and entrepreneurial. According to survey research, people in Japan, Korea, and other East Asian nations perceive themselves to…

With a postsecondary credential essential to finding a good job but the cost of college beyond the means of many families, a growing number of high schools are offering their students a powerful head start on higher education. About 1.3 million U.S. teens participate in dual enrollment, up from 680,000 when the century began. Critics worry that…

While talk abounds in the buzzword-happy education arena of what it means to develop students who are college and career ready, the author paints a portrait of a vocational-technical school district in northern Delaware that is actually doing both with its students, and has been for some 40 years. The vo-tech experience is not for students who…

Many college-intending students find themselves dealing with the undermatch and summer melt phenomena. Undermatch refers to the situation where academically-successful high-school graduates choose not to go to any college or to go to a local community college not commensurate with their academic achievements. Summer melt describes how students may…

There is growing evidence of successful strategies to help keep students from disadvantaged backgrounds motivated to persist in school and succeed in college. These strategies draw from scientifically validated theory and research and they typically involve simple, yet careful, implementation techniques and so educators can expect them to be more…

Early college high school models are designed to encourage and assist traditionally underrepresented groups of students- low income, Latino, and African-American- to persist in and graduate from high school while earning college credit. Some of the models target high school dropouts, with the aim of helping them acquire the education and training…

The challenges for increasing opportunities and college access for black students typically focus on the traditional barriers related to academic preparation, the racial gap in standardized test scores, and dropping out of high school. While these challenges remain, new and emerging challenges to college access are also important to discuss. They…

School personnel have many opportunities to assist students and families in preparing for a successful transition to college and careers. Initial high school efforts may include prescreening incoming freshman student files to identify those at-risk and assuring that support services and interventions are implemented quickly. Early supports for…

The Kalamazoo Promise provides a scholarship for full tuition for any high school graduate from the district who's been accepted to attend a Michigan postsecondary institution. The Promise has changed the attitudes of the students, their parents, and the community and has combined with other efforts to promote successful reform and systemic change…

Creating a meaningful high school diploma will expose students to the full range of adult options which will enable them to shape their high school education in a way that connects to their current interests and stimulates the growth of new ones. Fully connecting all students to these four worlds of knowledge will equip them to build one…

The push to prepare all students for college has resulted in the near disappearance of high school industrial arts courses. This trend is exemplified by California high schools' adherence to the University of California and California State University systems' prescribed courses, called the "A to G" requirements, which students must take…

Faculty members at America's colleges and universities have long thought that an alarming number of high school graduates do not arrive on campus with the writing skills they need. Now leaders of major U.S. corporations are joining their academic colleagues in complaining about a serious deficiency in the writing skills of today's college…

An educational program, conducted at the Nassau County Jail in New York, enables youthful offenders to complete their high school education. (MF)

Examines one national goal--to make our national high school graduation rate reach 90 percent by 2000--by focusing on the dropout problem. Poverty and cultural differences play a major role in determining who drops out. Exploring multiple-intelligences research and emphasizing educational research and development are sound strategies. Includes 33…