This study used a gap analysis to evaluate the knowledge, motivation, and organizational resources necessary for an alternative education program to reach the organizational goal of having 100% of students meet graduation requirements. While a complete performance evaluation would focus on all stakeholders, the stakeholders of focus were the…

Across Massachusetts, legislators, policymakers, educators, families, and communities are engaged in important conversations about whether to continue using student performance on the MCAS tests as part of the state's high-school graduation requirements. This document presents lessons drawn from 15-plus years of research on educational opportunity…

Most research on the effects of participation in career and technical education (CTE) in high school has looked exclusively at labor market outcomes, overlooking potential educational benefits. In this study, we capitalize on rich statewide administrative data and a change in graduation requirements in Arkansas to understand how increased CTE…

Maintaining the value of a degree is a priority for universities. During the pandemic, many universities had to put measures in place to make sure students were not unfairly disadvantaged by changes to their course. This statement details the Universities UK members' commitment to returning to pre-pandemic levels of firsts and 2:1s awarded in…

This dissertation consists of three quantitative studies analyzing educational policies and programs that help to improve college readiness, college success, as well as the transition from college to the labor market. The first chapter studies the impact of raising the bar for high school math on college readiness and success. The chapter examines…

The increasing shift for higher education institutions to recognize career readiness as an institutional priority (Cruzvergara et al., 2018) is leading the need to identify ways to scale student engagement in at least one high-impact practice (HIP), such as experiential learning opportunities, prior to graduation (Huang et al., 2018).…

In an institution where assessment was viewed as meaningless box-checking for the purpose of accreditation, a new reflective assessment practice changed 15 faculty members' perception of assessment in a single semester. Piloted with an interdisciplinary graduation requirement for Cultural Competency, the new assessment practice became a powerful…

The New York City P-TECH Grades 9-14 (P-TECH 9-14) high school model involves a partnership between the New York City Department of Education, the City University of New York (CUNY), and employer partners that collaborate with the schools implementing it. The schools prepare students for both college and careers in science, technology,…

This article examines the impacts of the Michigan Merit Curriculum (MMC), a statewide college-preparatory curriculum that applies to the high school graduating class of 2011 and later. Our analyses suggest that the higher expectations embodied in the MMC had slight impact on student outcomes. Looking at student performance in the ACT, the only…

Researchers and policymakers alike recognize the lasting benefits of participation in high-quality arts coursework and in integrating arts into other content areas. Federal policymakers signaled their support for arts education by passing the Every Student Succeeds Act, with its inclusion of the arts as part of a "wellrounded education."…

The purpose of this study was to understand how high schools in Texas were implementing the new graduation requirements that were enacted under House Bill 5 during the 2013 Texas Legislature. The study included interviews and survey data collected from 50 randomly selected public high schools in Texas during the 2018-19 school year. The study team…

A public education system's effectiveness should be based primarily on whether graduates have been equipped to be productive workers following program completion. Otherwise, neither the system nor the completion certificate (diploma) is worth the tax dollars spent. As Kentucky's education commissioner, the author found it woefully apparent that…

Sharing longitudinal student record data and merging data from different sources is critical to addressing important questions being asked of higher education. The Multiple-Institution Database for Investigating Engineering Longitudinal Development (MIDFIELD) is a multi-institution, longitudinal, student record level dataset that is used to answer…

In 2014 the Washington state legislature approved career- and college-ready (CCR) requirements for high school graduation that better align with admissions standards at the state's public universities than previous requirements did and that aim to equip students with the skills to pursue the career of their choice. The requirements took effect for…

Graduate programs in adapted physical education (APE) prepare individuals to work with students with disabilities in the physical education setting. However, these APE graduate programs vary widely throughout the country, and there has never been a systematic effort to identify and analyze these programs. Therefore, the purpose of this…