Research suggests that ninth grade is a critical year for setting the course to high school graduation. The transition to high school is a period of special threat to the academic achievement of many students. On average, students' grades, attendance, and attitudes toward school decline, while their behavioral troubles increase. Urban students and…

The purpose of this report is to provide comprehensive longitudinal outcome data, disaggregated for student and school subgroups, on the six-year college enrollment and completion experiences of the Boston Public Schools (BPS) Class of 2011. As high school and college students, the BPS Class of 2011 experienced the Getting Ready, Getting In, and…

This article reviews the literature on dropout trends, prevention, and intervention initiatives for school-aged children. Theoretical and consequential trends are highlighted to offer educators a perspective in which to view the dropout problem. This article also examines current trends in prevention and intervention initiatives aimed at reducing…

Postsecondary access and degree completion are increasingly important concerns for individuals and policymakers. This dissertation presents evidence on three distinct strategies for increasing students' level of preparedness for higher education, rates of postsecondary enrollment, and rates of postsecondary degree completion. The first is an…

The authors investigated the impact of a manualized high school transition program, the Peer Group Connection (PGC) program, on the graduation rate at a low-income, Mid-Atlantic high school. The program utilized 12th-grade student peer leaders to create a supportive environment for incoming ninth-grade students. Results of a randomized control…

Although the United States is touted as a country where anyone could be successful regardless of social class or national background, upward social mobility is hard to attain. Less than one in 10 children born into poverty will reach the top of the income distribution. For many individuals, postsecondary education has historically been a way out…

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) serves a large majority of socioeconomically disadvantaged students who are struggling academically and are underprepared for high school graduation and college. This article describes the partnership between LAUSD and the Los Angeles Education Research Institute, and how this collaboration endeavors…

This paper examined the gender imbalance among students in Nigeria's higher education and the possible ways to addressing them. The poor access of female gender to higher education in Nigeria has become a thing of great concern to all stakeholders such as School authorities, Government, International agencies and employers of labor. The paper…

Dr. Jill Biden, Vice President Joe Biden's wife, has been teaching in community colleges for the past 18 years. Dr. Biden believes that community colleges are "…uniquely American institutions where anyone who walks through the door is one step closer to realizing the American dream." This is an inspiring sentiment. However, of all the…

Previous high school research has highlighted the importance of students' freshman year. Limited research has supported the implementation of a smaller learning community, also known as a freshman academy. The theoretical framework of the study was based on stage environment fit, adolescence development and smaller learning community theories. The…

In 2007, spurred by University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research (UChicago CCSR) research reports, leadership at the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) began a new targeted approach to reducing course failure in the ninth grade. The research suggested that the transition between eighth and ninth grade played a critical role in shaping…

America's high schools face the challenge of improving student learning in an ever-changing global world (Marx, 2006). Fueling the need for reform is the urgency of graduating more highly skilled citizens and the demands from federal and state government. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and state legislation make today's high schools more accountable…

With the changing U.S. demographics, higher numbers of diverse, low-income, first-generation students are underprepared for the academic rigors of four-year institutions oftentimes requiring assistance, and remedial and/or developmental coursework in English and mathematics. Without intervention approaches these students are at high risk for…

Although "access" to higher education has increased substantially over the past forty years, student "success" in college--as measured by persistence and degree attainment--has not improved at all. Thomas Brock reviews systematic research findings on the effectiveness of various interventions designed to help at-risk students remain in college.…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing, and summarizing the data for Indicator 2--Dropout--from the FFY 2010 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and the revised State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)…