This study examined the perceptions of community college administrators and instructors; district high school administrators, guidance counselors, and CTE department; and a workforce employer of the value of career and technical education. This study also examined the historical and present perceptions of the district- and state-level officials…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) calls on states to take advantage of new opportunities to combat uneven access to quality instruction in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)--a key component of a well-rounded education. This piece highlights how state boards are improving STEM learning through revised standards, special…

This report provides an overview of AISD's college readiness outcomes and changes in the methods for determining students' college readiness.

This dissertation depicts the lives of ten students who are enrolled in developmental education courses at a rural community college in Appalachian Mountains. They share their home life, life experiences and struggles faced; however, they want to better themselves and that motivation keeps them going. This study is important study due to the fact…

The face and make-up of education has experienced an almost constant state of reformation resulting in progressive benchmarks from each transition: the establishment of national education goals (Vinovskis, 2009); increased federal policy on education and accountability (DeBray, 2006); "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) legislation (Rebell…

Graduating from high school and moving to the next phase of life can be difficult for any student but is particularly so for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Social and communication difficulties, sensory concerns, and narrow interests can negatively affect these students' opportunity for postsecondary education and employment. Preparing…

Racially minoritized students in the United States constitute 30% of the U.S. population, but students from these populations represent a smaller proportion of those who earn science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate degrees. This disproportionality contributes to race/ethnic income, status, and power inequalities…

Based on qualitative interviews with 20 college-aged Black males who graduated from one single-sex public charter school, this study investigated how students made meaning from their secondary school experiences and college preparation. Using relational trust as the theoretical framework, I looked specifically at the students' perceptions and…

This dissertation consists of two essays at the intersection of the economics of education and inequality. The first chapter analyzes how increasing levels of student debt affect career and housing choices of bachelor's degree recipients in the United States. Using within-cohort across-school variations in financial aid policies, it shows that…

College and career readiness has become a key educational priority in the United States. Framed by neoliberal discourses, current conceptions of college and career readiness narrowly define literacy as discrete sets of cognitive skills and curricular knowledge and reduce literacy learning to scores on high-stakes assessments. To disrupt these…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to ascertain how two urban principals, in high schools that feature comprehensive college-and-career readiness practices, utilize distributed leadership to facilitate their implementation. Design/methodology/approach: This study employed qualitative methods. Drawing upon semi-structured interview data,…

In a higher education career that has spanned over four decades Hunter Boylan has served as a gang control worker, a TRIO Program Director, a community college and university instructor, a learning center director, and an academic advisor and counselor, just to name a few of his roles. He is the author of 7 books and over 100 articles, book…

While many states have strengthened their high school graduation requirements over the last decade, too many graduates are still underprepared for college. In response to this problem, states across the country are administering early college readiness assessments that measure 11th grade students' readiness to successfully perform entry-level,…

The goal of this primer is to help education leaders understand the mutually reinforcing relationship between social and emotional development and ambitious academic goals. Instruction that promotes students' social and emotional development (SED) facilitates better student outcomes on college- and career-ready (CCR) standards. The converse is…

A majority of high school graduates aspire to earn a college degree (ACT, 2016), yet many students are graduating from high school unprepared to do college-level work. As a result, about one-third of college freshmen enroll in at least one developmental course upon entry to college (Skomsvold, 2014). Because developmental courses are often not…