"College and Career Ready" offers educators a blueprint for improving high school so that more students are able to excel in freshman-level college courses or entry-level jobs-laying a solid foundation for lifelong growth and success. The book is filled with detailed, practical guidelines and case descriptions of what the best high…

Students in the United States are avoiding taking the higher level science courses in secondary and postsecondary academic institutions (Ball, 2000; Braund & Reiss, 2006; Lee & Frank, 1990). There are many careers that do not require students to take those higher level science courses; therefore, students avoid registering for those classes…

Reading underachievement among adolescent students, particularly in urban areas, has been well documented in the literature. This reality points to two problems: Schools possess neither the capacity needed to prepare students for higher education and the workforce, nor the ability to help students view literacy as a tool for critical thinking,…

Evaluating student achievement in Denver Public Schools (DPS) starts with taking a hard look at where performance stands. In this report, the researchers examine key transition points across the education pipeline, from preschool through college. They gauge student progress--or lack of progress. And they identify challenges. That way, they can…

The underrepresentation of Latino/a students in postsecondary education has received considerable attention in the research literature as well as national policy forums. Improving access to higher education for Latinos/as is predicated on increasing the pool of Latino/a high school graduates that are prepared to meet the rigors of college. This…

The U.S. arm of technology giant Siemens Corp. recently reported it has 3,000 jobs open because of the dearth of skilled workers. More than half of those open jobs require science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills. A recent study by ManpowerGroup found that a record 52 percent of U.S. employers have difficulty filling critical…

In too many schools, science and mathematics are taught separately with little or no attention to technology and engineering. Also, science and mathematics tend to function in isolation from other core subjects. In California, Linked Learning: Pathways to College and Career Success connects core academics to challenging professional and technical…

Many factors inhibit college completion by African-American high school graduates who come from low socio-economic backgrounds. Some factors are "cognitive," while others can be classified as "non-cognitive." Variables in the latter classification are examined in this study conducted at an urban high school in the Midwest with…

This eighth annual report has taken a directional change from prior years where the primary aim was preparing students to graduate from high school. The new focus is on the K-12 alignment where, at the direction of 48 states, the National Governors Association, and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Common Core State Standards were…

Many studies involving African American male students have focused on achievement gaps and student retention models of those attending four-year institutions. However, there are limited investigations of African American male students at the community college and very few that focus on faculty perceptions. This study employed a mixed Delphi…

Pacesetting high schools, middle grades schools and technology centers have changed classroom and other practices to prepare students to meet postsecondary requirements and rising workplace needs. The strategies include raising expectations, project-based learning, guidance and advisement, improving students' reading and writing skills,…

As employers scan the current workforce and anticipate future workforce needs, they frequently find that employees are not well-equipped with core content knowledge and 21st century workplace competencies, the combination of which the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation defines as "deeper learning." The cumulative effect of these…

The shift in education reform to a goal of college and career readiness for all students is a change that has been embraced widely across the country. The challenge of designing new policies and programs that could accomplish the goal that all students should graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college…

The current study examines the relationship between the SAT® College Readiness Benchmark with the outcome of graduation from college in either four or six years. The results indicate that the SAT benchmark is indeed differentiating between those students who graduate within four years and those who do not, as well as between those who graduate…

Increasingly, school districts are recognizing that high school graduation rates may not be the ultimate measure of success, as evidence accumulates that students who obtain a college degree do markedly better than students who only graduate from high school. In New York City, while graduation rates have increased dramatically over the last…