There is an informal tradition of graduates decorating their mortarboards as a form of self-expression. In this essay, the author draws upon their observations to share some initial thoughts on the role of these public performances of the personal play within the ritual space of the commencement ceremony. This essay sheds light on the ways in…

The Chicago Public Schools' (CPS) vision is that every student graduates from high school prepared for success in college, career, and life. To help the city reach that goal, the To&Through Project is providing data that track the progress of students in Chicago and identify where students are falling off the path to college degree attainment.…

The Minnesota Independent School Forum (MISF) contracted with Wilder Research to conduct a study of private K-12 education in Minnesota, referred to as the Statewide Census of Private Education (SCOPE). The Minnesota Independent School Forum conducted prior SCOPE surveys in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2012. MISF also contracted with Wilder to conduct…

This paper presents and analyzes results of two Delphi processes that polled cybersecurity experts to rate cybersecurity topics based on importance, difficulty, and timelessness. These ratings can be used to identify core concepts--cross-cutting ideas that connect knowledge in the discipline. The first Delphi process identified core concepts that…

Career academies promote smaller learning communities within high schools, creating personalized learning environments while promoting students' readiness for college and careers. After describing the career academy structure, we present four research-based aspects that can assist school leaders and teachers in developing and implementing…

This article shares alternative conceptions of time in a qualitative study about the schooling experiences of teenage mothers. The counternarratives of three women of color are presented as alternatives for understanding temporally restricted discourses of achievement in high school. Using third space theory as a lens for understanding the…

To complement the existing literature on expanding access to high-quality college education, we investigate the understudied topic of university outreach. Using a field experiment at West Point, we estimate the effectiveness of four university admissions outreach efforts (Admissions Office phone call, application encouragement from a role model,…

We use individual-level administrative data to examine the extent and potential explanations for the relatively poorer academic performance of three ethnic minority groups in their first year of study at a New Zealand university. Substantial differences in course completion rates and letter grades are found for Maori, Pasifika, and Asian students…

Many students enter college without the skills and knowledge needed to successfully perform college-level work. An important leverage point for increasing college readiness is the transition from high school to college. One strategy implemented at postsecondary institutions to ease this transition, boost academic and social readiness, and foster…

The rising price of higher education and its implications for equity and accessibility have been extensively documented, but the material conditions of students' lives are often overlooked. Data from more than 30,000 two- and 4-year college students indicate that approximately half are food insecure, and recent estimates suggest that at least 20%…

"The Talent Blind Spot," which is divided into two reports, demonstrates that, each year, more than 50,000 high-achieving, low- and moderate-income community college students do not transfer to a four-year institution. Approximately 15,000 of these students have a 3.7 GPA or higher, which suggests they could succeed at even the most…

There has been extensive research and commentary blaming schools for the achievement disparity that exists among its students. Attempts to solve this issue have focused primarily on instruction and school tasks. Anthony Bryk and Barbara Schneider (2002) found social trust as a major attribute to school effectiveness. Their 1997 study of Chicago's…

In this report, we describe the college outcomes of three cohorts of 12th grade students in the Houston Independent School District, prior to the implementation of the district's college advising program. We find significant racial and ethnic disparities in postsecondary enrollment and completion, with Hispanics, in particular, exhibiting low…

Native Americans continue to be one of the lowest represented ethnic groups in postsecondary education and present some of the lowest retention/graduation rates of any group. In the interest of supporting all students, this study examines Native American students' notions of success as well as their academic and personal experiences in a majority…

The Vermont School Register is a student record-keeping document required by Vermont Statute. The purpose of the Vermont School Register is to document each Vermont school's continuous year-to-year cycle of enrolling students, to record daily attendance, to report dropouts and graduates, and to report year-end attendance to the Agency of…