Background/Context: Students classified as Long-Term English Learners (LTELs) are those who have not gained fluency in the English language, even after being enrolled in the U.S. K-12 educational system for five to seven years (Olsen, 2014). Although LTELs are not consistently tracked across states, we know they constitute a sizeable portion of…

This dissertation investigates the experiences and outcomes of students who participated in remote summer bridge programs during the COVID-19 pandemic which was the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years. The study aims to evaluate the impact of these programs on overall student persistence. Student persistence is the participants' attributions,…

This research study focused on the potential factors impacting students with disabilities (SWDs) course placement and graduation rates at Simmons High School (SHS), a large urban school in Massachusetts. Preliminary research found that approximately 50% of SWDs graduate each school year at SHS and are historically marginalized compared to their…

Hmong adolescents face many challenges during high school, particularly college and career readiness. School counselors are trained professionals who can help. This transcendental phenomenology study explored the lived experiences of six Hmong adolescents and how they make sense of college and career lessons in a group work format over six weeks.…

The charter school movement encompasses many school models. In Massachusetts in the 2010's, the site of our study, urban charter schools primarily used "No Excuses" practices, whereas nonurban charters had greater model variety. Using randomized admissions lotteries, we estimate the impact of charter schools by locality on college…

Students with disabilities attend college at higher rates than they have in previous years; however, students with disabilities do not graduate from college at the same rate as students without disabilities. This mixed method study, guided by the Social Change Model of Leadership theoretical framework, examined the transition of six students with…

High schools are viewed by policymakers, practitioners, and researchers alike as key institutions in facilitating access to college, especially for minoritized students from low-income families. A school-wide strategy for making college accessible is for high schools to establish a college-going culture that normalizes college attendance, elevates…

The latest reforms to the GCSE Subject Content attempt to bring languages in line with other subject areas through a quantification of the material that needs to be learnt and a focus on the linguistic system, to the detriment of the broader communicative aims associated with 'knowing a language'. This article suggests that the reforms expose a…

College- and career-readiness skills can easily get lost if you don't have a clear school-wide plan for teaching them. While curriculum in schools is primarily meant to ready students for college and career skills, ensuring those skills actually transfer is another story. Andrew Miller lays out a system for teaching and assessing key…

This study analyzed the strengths and areas for improvement in the resources and support provided to college access practitioners serving in urban charter and public-school communities. Prior research has examined the impact that college and career readiness resources and support have on students' postsecondary preparation and success. Limited…

School principals are responsible for improving low College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores; however, little was understood about how K-12 school principals' leadership practices were perceived to improve CCRPI scores in schools. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the leadership practices of K-12 school…

Dual enrollment programs have been in existence for decades in public high schools in the United States. While there is literature on the academic impact of these programs with a focus on high school and college outcomes, there is a gap in the literature regarding what is known about students' experiences in dual enrollment programs that allow…

This study examines college choice decisions of students admitted to the University of California (UC) and the relationship between these choices and degree attainment. It does so using a dataset that combines UC administrative data with National Student Clearinghouse data on enrollment and degree attainment. It first discusses how academic and…

Texas has approximately 200 designated early college high schools (ECHS). The present study aimed to acquire feedback from ECHS graduates to identify how students could be prepared more effectively for postsecondary education degree attainment and identify potential areas of disconnect between ECHS and 4-year colleges. To explore early college…

Standards have been at the heart of state and federal efforts to improve education for several decades. Most recently, standards-based reforms have evolved with a focus on more ambitious "college- and career-ready" (CCR) standards. This paper synthesizes the results of a seven-year national research center focused on the implementation…