This dissertation examines how state political partisanship influenced public school finance and student achievement during the accountability-focused No Child Left Behind (NCLB) era (2001-2015). Although education is a ladder of opportunity for disadvantaged students, U.S. federalism decentralizes most education funding to states, leaving fiscal…

This supplement to our 2012 report (see ED562057) on historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) retention and graduation rates narrows that report's focus to UNCF's member institutions, and shows that these private HBCUs retain and graduate students at rates competitive with other postsecondary institutions. These schools perform…

Since 1987, nearly 450 high school students have participated in the High School Intern Program (HIP) led by the Science and Health Education Partnership (SEP) at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). Acceptance is not contingent upon grades, being solidly on a path to college, or commitment to a science career. Rather, HIP seeks…

Statewide performance assessments have gone in and out of vogue for over 30 years. While embraced as authentic representations of student work, they often prove burdensome for standardized assessment purposes. They can be a strong addition to a balanced assessment system--when implemented well for the right purposes. State policymakers looking to…

The 2020 Youth Transition Report underscores the persistent and pernicious gap between youth and young adults with disabilities and those without disabilities on measures of success in education, employment, and poverty. While data and reports exist for the working-age adult population and children with disabilities, the Institute for Educational…

This study snapshot presents the key findings from the full study conducted in response to concerns raised by Texas higher education stakeholders about the limited information available on college outcomes among students with a disability. While most colleges provide services and accommodations for students with self-identified disabilities, many…

The Adult High School (AHS) program enables an adult student, as defined in section (s.)1004.02(5), Florida Statutes (F.S.), to complete the required courses and state assessments to earn a standard high school diploma. Course requirements in adult high school programs are designed in accordance with core content standards per s. 1003.41, F.S. A…

In 2014 the Washington state legislature approved career- and college-ready (CCR) requirements for high school graduation that better align with admissions standards at the state's public universities than previous requirements did and that aim to equip students with the skills to pursue the career of their choice. The requirements took effect for…

Despite reforms in federal and state laws to address educational equity, students with disabilities still often underperform their peers across academic outcome measures (i.e., school attendance, academic achievement and grade point average, graduation rates, and school drop-out). While researchers have suggested both individual and…

This dissertation presents a collection of three essays on the economics of higher education. Although these essays were conceived as independent research projects, they all concern higher education in Chile. For that reason, I begin in chapter 1 with a general overview of Chile's higher education system. I briefly describe the institutional…

This paper studies the effectiveness of individual federal income tax credits and deductions that are made available to college students and their families who satisfy income and certain other eligibility requirements. Such credits and deductions are collectively called "tax-based aid." Tax-based aid is found here to have a limited…

The authors examined the short- and long-term effects of high school exit exams (HSEEs) on graduation rates and achievement using an interrupted time series approach. There is a positive overall effect of HSEE introduction for graduation rate trends, which is heterogeneous over time. HSEEs have a negative impact on graduation rates in the year of…

This paper reviews state strategies for incorporating performance assessment in policy and practice. Specifically, the paper reviews the use of performance assessment in 12 states in the Innovation Lab Network, a group committed to developing systems of assessment that provide meaningful measures of college and career readiness. This review…

Beginning in May 2014, all education program graduates in New York State (NYS) must pass new and/or revised certification exams in order to become certified to teach in NYS. Early childhood teacher candidates enrolled in an approved NYS teacher preparation program are required to pass the Academic Literacy Skills Test (ALST), Content Specialty…

Graduate and doctoral schools around the world struggle to shorten the long time to degree and to prevent high dropout rates. While most of previous research studied individual determinants of PhD completion, we analyze the impact of two structural reforms of the doctoral program on thesis completion at a selective European graduate school.…