College student persistence continues to be a vexing problem for colleges and universities. In Rethinking College Student Persistence (2014), Braxton, Doyle, Hartley, Hirshy, Jones, and McLendon explored the indirect role between cultural capital and first-year student persistence. The significance of this role becomes more important when one…

With today's greater focus on preparing students for college and careers, the Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) recently conducted a review of the coursework that states are requiring students to complete in order to receive a high school diploma, and of what diploma options are available for students in each state. This…

The British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) is a union of professionals that represents the 41,000 teachers in BC's public-education system. The BCTF is committed to success for every student in a strong and stable public-education system. In reviewing the current BC graduation requirements and plans for the draft curriculum in the fall of…

The Washington Legislature directed the State Board of Education (SBE) to provide an analysis of the equity and adequacy of new graduation pathway options through stakeholder outreach and engagement. This report contains the "Second Interim Graduation Pathway Options Report--July 2020" and the "Washington Graduation Pathway Options:…

The continued underserving of Maori and Pasifika communities by New Zealand universities has resulted in the need to hold universities and the wider tertiary education system to account through widespread data analysis. This paper analyses Maori and Pasifika enrolment in the Society and Culture and Natural and Physical Sciences fields of Aotearoa…

What does it mean to be 'excellent', particularly for the higher education institution? Without a definitive answer to that question, university rankings have become a proxy for quality and excellence. As such, higher education institutions are continually seeking ways to improve their rankings, with the implication being that these rankings…

The COVID-19 pandemic has produced many changes in the lives of our students and families. In this article, the responses of students in criminal justice classes at a Hispanic serving institution in south Texas were collected and synthesized. The 252 responses were divided into seven frequently observed and repeated themes: jobs and job related,…

Low-income, first-generation students complete college at disproportionately low rates compared to their higher-income and continuing-generation peers. Actors across federal, state, and institutional levels have developed a wide variety of support programs to increase the retention and graduation rates of this group, and typically measure program…

In this report, students were grouped into three distinct categories for analysis, based on patterns that emerged in arts participation during high school, which we named spartans, explorers, and deep divers. The patterns in arts participation represent not just the students, but also the opportunities and barriers they encountered. We found that…

Overall, Twilight credit recovery program student outcomes were positive during 2020-2021. The middle school students who participated in Twilight had a 60% success rate and high school students who participated in Twilight had a 77% success rate. In addition, 81% of the 12th graders who participated in Twilight graduated from high school. Lastly,…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether students enrolled in Secondary (9-12) alternative educational schools, i.e.--district schools vs. charter schools, demonstrate significant differences in achievement as measured by the 2019 A-F Letter Grade Accountability System, as well as to determine whether district and charter schools differ…

As community colleges strive to meet President Obama's call to graduate 50 percent more college students by 2020, there is no shortage of promising ideas. But, as educators are learning, not all programs scale. Bringing completion programs to scale requires a fundamental shift in the culture of the college, away from enrollment and toward success.…

Many universities and colleges focus on student retention and completion as a measure of their success. Publications such as the "Chronicle of Higher Education" carry an increasing number of articles dealing with student retention, success, and completion. Academic libraries support this goal through a wide variety of services, teaching,…

This chapter addresses the impact of free community college and state merit scholarships on college-going patterns of high school graduates, community college revenue contexts, and student access and completion at community colleges.

Originally, the mission of the community college was one of access--to provide an opportunity for students to attend postsecondary education without leaving their communities. Over time, though, as more students enrolled in these institutions, many never left with an associate's degree, credential, or transfer to a four-year college or university.…