The Tech Valley Scholars (TVS) program included 38 students who joined this program over the course of three academic years, from 2009 to 2012. These students comprise the experimental group for this study to determine if participating in the NSF-funded Tech Valley Scholars program improved academic outcomes. The experimental group was compared to…

Using a unique dataset of 44 Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), this article examines critical patterns of enrollment, engagement, persistence, and completion among students in online higher education. By leveraging fixed-effects specifications based on over 2.1 million student observations across more than 2,900 lectures, we analyzed…

As institutions not founded to "serve" Latina/o students, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) are criticized for solely being "Hispanic-enrolling," with access and graduation rates being hypothesized as indicators of an organizational identity for HSIs. Drawing from a case study with 88 participants, the purpose of this…

From their very beginnings, the community colleges have demonstrated a commitment to their founding principles of access, affordability, and quality. However, following February 2009, when President Obama set forth the agenda for U.S. postsecondary education to have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world by 2020, priority shifted…

We describe the structure of a writing-intensive, chemistry first year seminar designed to support a three week, research focused summer bridge program. Writing assignments in the seminar helped students understand their research activities, learn to conduct themselves as scientists, and reflect upon their lab work. The writing intensive seminar…

This paper describes the development of a Peer-Led Guided Inquiry (PLGI) program for teaching calculus at the University of South Florida. This approach uses the POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) teaching strategy and the small group learning model PLTL (Peer-Led Team Learning). The developed materials used a learning cycle based on…

Since its establishment in 1996, the North Carolina Early Mathematics Placement Testing (NC EMPT) Program has provided a low stakes reality check of readiness for college-level mathematics to more than 600,000 high school students statewide. The program strives to help reduce the percentage of incoming college freshmen requiring mathematics…

The question of whether increased funding pursuant to equity court decisions has improved the education of economically disadvantaged students sparks a lively and spirited debate. In the landmark case of "Abbott v. Burke," the New Jersey Supreme Court held that students in 28 "special needs" districts must receive the same…

The pathways for academic career and employment program (PACE) is established to provide funding to community colleges for the development of projects that will lead to gainful, quality, in-state employment for members of target populations by providing them with both effective academic and employment training to ensure gain. This is the second…

This report summarizes the findings of a long-term evaluation of Opportunity NYC--Family Rewards, an experimental, privately funded, conditional cash transfer (CCT) program to help families break the cycle of poverty. Family Rewards was the first comprehensive CCT program in a developed country. Launched in 2007 by New York City's Center for…

The Annie E. Casey Foundation's "2016 KIDS COUNT Data Book" finds today's youth--Generation Z--are healthier and completing high school on time despite mounting economic inequality and increasingly unaffordable college tuition. Aided by smart policies and investments in prevention, a record number of teens are making positive choices.…

The Indiana Commission for Higher Education is committed to providing a clearer and more comprehensive picture of college completion in order to advance Indiana's collective efforts to boost education attainment. In partnership with Indiana public colleges and the National Student Clearinghouse, the Commission has collected completion data for…

This comprehensive volume offers a snapshot profile of every public school district in the United States serving 1,500 or more students and provides pertinent evaluative and demographic statistics necessary to evaluate educational programs nationwide.This edition includes profiles on 5,749 school districts in the United States, representing 90% of…

The Florida Department of Education (FDOE) identified increasing the graduation rate of students with disabilities and decreasing the graduation gap between students with disabilities and all students as its state-identified measurable result (SIMR). To make progress toward the SIMR, the state sought to build the capacity of local education…

Both young and fast-growing, the Latino population in the U.S. is enrolling in higher education in increasing numbers. Over the past decade, the rate of enrollment in higher education for Latinos ages 18 to 24 years old has increased by 15 percentage points, from 24% to 39%. During this same time, the average annual cost of college has more than…