Community colleges have long been the overlooked stepchildren of the educational system. But because of profound structural changes in the U.S. economy over the past several years, community colleges have become increasingly critical to the nation's economic competitiveness and the key platform for moving low-income people into the middle class.…

The current study constitutes the first attempt to use a quasi-experimental method--the regression discontinuity (RD) design--to gauge the causal effect of dual enrollment (DE) on students' academic outcomes. Since dual enrollment can encompass a wide range of experiences, two separate analyses were performed. The first evaluates the impact of…

The School Choice Demonstration Project has published a series of reports written in the fifth and final year of its evaluation of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP). This review is of Report #30, a final follow up to a five-year study examining high school graduation and post-secondary enrollment rates for students participating in the…

The "Great Recession" has caused a fiscal crisis in both public and private higher education that is unmatched in recent memory. Institutions' attention is focused on what they can cut out of their budgets. Student-service expenditures are often seen as discretionary in institutional budgets; they are viewed by some critics as…

The Community College Futures Assembly has served as a national independent policy think tank since 1995. Its purpose is to articulate the critical issues facing American community colleges and recognize innovative programs. Convening annually in January in Orlando, Florida, the Assembly provides an interactive learning environment where tough…

Keith Look, Shawnee High School principal, must steer his 82-year-old high school on the far west side of Louisville, Kentucky, through an aggressive, federally mandated effort to reverse a decades-long decline in student achievement that has given Shawnee the label of one of Kentucky's worst schools. He is one soldier in an army of principals…

Objective: Colleges have increased postsecondary educational access for youth, including individuals with disabilities, but completion rates remain low. This study tests the hypothesis that health conditions that reduce social integration predict lower educational attainment among college students. Method: The sample from the nationally…

America's education system, from kindergarten through the state university, is designed to produce college graduates. Those who stop short of at least a community-college diploma are widely regarded as failures, or at least victims of a failed system. Yet most Americans fall into this category, and current trends offer little hope for improvement.…

Business leaders in Louisiana cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students' lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation's most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. Louisiana students have made some progress in…

Business leaders in New Hampshire cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students' lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation's most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. New Hampshire students have made some…

Business leaders in North Carolina cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students' lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation's most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. North Carolina students have made some…

Business leaders in Michigan cannot find the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) talent they need to stay competitive. Students' lagging performance in K-12 is a critical reason why. The good news is that the nation's most effective STEM education programs can help turn the tide. Yet there is much work to do. Students have made…

In July of 2018, the Education Research Alliance for New Orleans released a comprehensive, summative longitudinal report on the effects on student outcomes of the package of reforms implemented in New Orleans following hurricane Katrina in the fall of 2005. This policy brief reviews the findings of this report by Douglas Harris and Matthew Larsen,…

The "South Carolina Higher Education Statistical Abstract" is a comprehensive, single-source compilation of tables and graphs which report data frequently requested by the Governor, Legislators, college and university staff, other state government officials, and the general public. The 2018 edition of the Statistical Abstract marks the…

The emerging adult population, individuals between the ages of 18-29, has grown to 53.7 million in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). College students form a significant subset of this population, with 29 percent enrolled at a college or university (National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2015). One in three emerging adults…