Growing experimental evidence demonstrates that low-touch informational, nudge, and virtual advising interventions are ineffective at improving postsecondary educational outcomes for economically-disadvantaged students at scale. Intensive in-person college advising programs are a considerably higher-touch and more resource intensive strategy; some…

Enrollment in higher education has risen dramatically in Latin America, especially in Chile. Yet graduation and persistence rates remain low. One way to improve graduation and persistence is to use data and analytics to identify students at risk of dropout, target interventions, and evaluate interventions' effectiveness at improving student…

Due to the steady growth of Montessori in the public sector over the past 20 years, the question of whether authentic Montessori can be implemented in public schools is often raised. To try to shed light on this question, in 2011, the authors began a research study of more than 315 South Carolina public school classrooms (with approximately 7,500…

Hands-on research provides insight into the process of science and has been linked to increased retention of students in STEM disciplines. While large research universities can provide valuable undergraduate research experiences in laboratories, most cannot accommodate all of the students seeking research apprenticeships. Course-based…

The science of learning (learning science) is an emerging interdisciplinary field that concerns itself with how the brain learns and remembers important information. The authors describe an innovative extracurricular program that introduced first-year undergraduate students in engineering to learning science, specifically the biological steps in…

This study investigated 350 English as a foreign language (EFL) undergraduate students' use of "Tell Me More" (TMM), a language learning technology, for self-study in a university in the south of Thailand. Two questions guided the study: 1) What were learners' self-study practices with the TMM program? 2) How did learners' self-study…

Professional Pathways for Teachers (PPfT) is a human capital system that blends three primary components: appraisal, compensation, and professional development (PD) opportunities. The purpose of PPfT is to build the capacity of Austin Independent School District (AISD) teachers through a comprehensive system of supports and compensation with the…

In "Broader, Bolder, Better," authors Elaine Weiss, of the Broader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign, and Paul Reville, former Massachusetts education secretary, make a compelling case for a fundamental change in the way we view education. The authors argue for a large-scale expansion of community-school partnerships in order to…

While the Pell Grant covers a substantial proportion of college tuition for low-income students, it has covered only two full-time semesters per year and has not included any support for summer courses through most of its history. As research has shown that continuous enrollment throughout the year increases college persistence and completion, the…

The past three decades have seen charter schools emerge as a prominent and controversial alternative to traditional public schools. This policy brief examines "Thirty Years of Charter Schools: What Does Lottery-Based Research Tell Us?" which summarizes 40 studies that have used lottery research designs to analyze how charter schools…

Background and Context: EarSketch was developed as a program to foster persistence in computer science with diverse student populations. Objective: To test the effectiveness of EarSketch in promoting intentions to persist, particularly among female students and under-represented minority students. Method: Meta-analyses, structural equation…

Black males encounter significant microaggressions and race related challenges as students in Predominantly White Institutions. These encounters negatively impact their college learning and social experiences. In the face of these challenges, college retention rate of Black males falls behind those of other racial and gender groups (Toldson,…

Even though school systems throughout the United States have developed a variety of programs to decrease the achievement gap between underrepresented groups and students classified as members of the majority group, data regarding their effectiveness are either scarce or inconclusive. Some research suggests an increasing number of public-school…

How can universities ensure that the first-year learning experiences are purposeful, personal, and transformative? This study explores challenges post-secondary institutions face in the ever-changing landscape of first-year teaching and learning. It spanned 18 months and included surveys, reflections, and an environmental scan of 92 first-year…

Nursing student attrition is of ongoing concern to programs of nursing and healthcare employers given the persistent shortage of nurses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the perceptions of ten graduates from two cohorts of a Pre-Licensure Program of Nursing regarding the impact of program-level and college-wide practices…