This qualitative study sought to advance understanding of the specific behaviors, actions, and skills utilized by a principal to create a college-going culture that ensured underrepresented students college access and success. The study was bounded by an exemplary urban high school serving underrepresented students in the northeast region of the…

First-generation students are faced with different challenges when joining the institutions of higher learning. Some of the experiences encountered by these students when entering these institutions can disorient them in a manner that affects their learning abilities. For this reason, it is necessary to come up with an approach that enhances their…

Student preparedness is an essential component of transition to university influenced by a broad suite of attributes including academic aptitude, prior knowledge, self-efficacy, self-confidence and a complex assortment of study and life skills. In the case of chemistry education, students' self-perceptions of preparedness are intrinsically linked…

With an increase in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in the United States, many of whom have higher intellectual ability, there is a predicted increase in the number of college-bound students. Affected young adults face a "Services Cliff" as they transition into adulthood. Our study examined a nationally represented sample of…

In the Republic of the Marshall Islands, college readiness and early college success are major concerns. More than 75 percent of a recent cohort of incoming students at the College of the Marshall Islands did not place into credit-bearing math and English courses, which suggests that students might not be academically prepared to take…

Why does a public high school, despite having resources and educators with good intentions, end up graduating English learners (ELs) without preparing them for college and career? This book answers this question through a longitudinal ethnographic case study of a diverse high school in Pennsylvania. The author takes the reader on a journey with…

Early college opportunities continue to grow in high school settings, with the state laws making them available to all students by removing the limits of grade level, and the number of college college-level courses students can take while in high school. Because offering a credit-only approach in these programs is not making the expected impact on…

The purpose of this qualitative research study was to explore the past experiences of underrepresented students who participated in the College Now program, a college readiness program sponsored by the City University of New York (CUNY). More specifically, the study investigated how the College Now program prepared students academically and…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to discuss and analyze college and career readiness for exceptional students in South Carolina. The overall goal was to determine if there was a significant difference in the outcomes of the exceptional student in the state over a three year timespan using two data points (2016-2017 and 2018-2019) and…

The discussion in policy circles and secondary schools focuses on the importance of being college and career readiness for all students (Conley & McGaughy, 2012). As with any type of policy, implementation is the key to success. The federally approved Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) required states to design K-12 career education based on…

The purpose of this study was to determine if K-12 public school students are receiving adequate college and career readiness guidance (CCR Guidance), and, if not, to characterize the nature, extent, and cause of the shortfall. Adequacy is defined as the ability of students to meet with a CCR Guidance counselor; the counselor's willingness to get…

College enrollment rates have increased over the past 30 years, but there continue to be gaps in college enrollment as well as graduation rates across demographics such as socioeconomic status and race. This is a social justice issue that affects the population of this study, which focuses on graduates of Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School…

While more students than ever are completing high school with a diploma, the American education system has a long way to go until each and every student is prepared for what comes after graduation. Unless significant advancements are made in closing existing gaps in educational attainment, America's current employment gaps will worsen as the…

Community college students often are unaware of the stakes involved in their performance on placement exams, used to sort the students into their first math and English courses. In our randomized experiment of approximately 13,000 newly admitted community college students, we test whether informing students, via a supplemental notification letter,…

This memorandum provides information pertinent to the participation and performance of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations for 2022 graduates in Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). In 2022, 63.2% of MCPS graduates took one or more AP exams--21.9 percentage points more than public school graduates in…