Every community has individuals or groups who manage to find better solutions to problems than their peers, although everyone has access to the same resources and challenges. Those are the positive deviants.

Student academic performance, persistence, and graduation among American Indian/Alaska Native students in higher education are very low compared to other racial groups. Studies have shown that American Indian students enter higher education with a lack of academic preparedness, financial challenges, lack of social skills development, and lack of…

NCAA data indicates that Division III student-athletes are graduating at higher rates than their non-athlete peers. Graduation rate data alone do not provide a full understanding of student-athletes' academic success. The data thus far simply show empirically that student-athletes have a higher federal six-year graduation rate, but…

For decades, remedial education has been extensively used in higher education and studied as an effective tool to help overcome the challenge of student unpreparedness. While previous studies on remedial education addressed the academic failure of students, this study focuses on academic success of African American females. This causal-comparative…

Today, a majority of high school graduates aspire to earn a college degree, and yet only 68% of them immediately enroll in a two-or four-year postsecondary institution after completing high school. Even among students who do enroll in college many of them fail to complete a degree--only about 60% of students at four-year institutions complete a…

In 2002, No Child Left Behind ushered in sweeping changes in school accountability. Diverging from the federal government's long history of leaving this matter largely to the states, a Congress broadly dissatisfied with the slow pace of educational improvement stepped in with a new framework designed to set schools on a path to getting all…

This is the third and final paper in the Commission's series concerning the major areas of the Commission's new master plan and compact process. Each paper elaborates on a particular theme sharing additional best practices and insights. It is the intention of the Commission that these additional resources assist in fostering discourse among…

This annotated bibliography contains summaries of research studies examining a number of College Board assessments and programs. To be included in the bibliography, each study needed to meet a number of criteria. First, articles must have been published (as a College Board research report, in an external journal, or as an ETS research report).…

In this new report from the Signature series, the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, in partnership with the Indiana University Project on Academic Success, presents findings on two- to four-year transfer students, focusing on their baccalaureate completion within six years after transfer. The report examines baccalaureate completion…

Students' engagement and performance in their first year of high school offer strong signals about their prospects for earning a diploma 4 years later. These performance measures can be used to construct "on-track" indicators to measure a school's performance and to identify needs of specific students who are at risk of dropping out.…

Some colleges engage in unethical practices to balance their budgets, such as accepting "marginal" students who qualify for loans and government-backed financial aid but not providing these students with the services and programs they need to achieve success. Too many low-income students who are often first-generation students find…

Public schools are suffering from a well-publicized diversity problem. Minority students make up nearly half of all public school students, yet minority teachers comprise just 18 percent of the teacher workforce. In an effort to address what Slate has described as "the one cause in education everyone supports," school districts across…

This report presents the "Annual Report Card on California Teacher Preparation Programs for the Academic Year 2014-2015" as required by Title II of the Higher Education Act. In 2008, the law was reauthorized and changes were made to the Title II data collection and reporting requirements. The 2008-09 reporting year was the pilot year in…

In 2013-14, the high school graduation rate reached a record high of 82 percent (U.S. Department of Education 2015a). Despite the gains, over half a million students still drop out of high school each year (U.S. Department of Education 2015b). High schools have adopted various strategies designed to keep students who are at risk of not graduating…

Homeless youth and youth in foster care are often unprepared for the transition to adulthood. Given the economic benefits of college, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to examine the college experiences of these vulnerable youth. GAO examined: (1) college enrollment and completion for foster and homeless youth; (2) the extent to…