The career academy approach is one of the oldest and most widely established high school reforms in the U.S., stretching back for more than 30 years. A large-scale, multi-site, random assignment research design was conducted to determine the impact of career academies on student outcomes. Some of the findings of the study include the following:…

This report presents the results of a five-year longitudinal study designed to examine the effect of career-based comprehensive school reform on creating a successful high school experience and preparing youth for the adult world of postsecondary education and work. The study included three feeder patterns of middle schools, high schools, and…

Mayors and other municipal leaders in cities across the nation are helping expand alternatives for students who struggle in traditional high school settings. Alternatives for high school are new alternative secondary school initiatives that prepare young people to graduate from high school and achieve college and career success through programs…

The 2012 edition of the "Digest of Education Statistics" is the 48th in a series of publications initiated in 1962. The "Digest" has been issued annually except for combined editions for the years 1977-78, 1983-84, and 1985-86. Its primary purpose is to provide a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field…

Although both blacks and whites have made important gains in education over the past two decades, it is apparent that blacks continue to trail whites in many areas. These findings outline some of the educational differences between blacks and whites. Black children still start school with less preschool experience than white children. Gaps in the…

In North Carolina, the Task Force on the Achievement of Culturally Diverse Students was established to respond to specific goals and objectives that speak to the achievement of African American, Native American, and Hispanic American students. Issues on homeless children and youths were addressed to a lesser extent since this group represents a…

A series of studies of the experience of employers with schools and their graduates in the 1980s has established that employers want employees with cognitive and subject matter skills, but with other skills as well. These skills are summarized, and the development of an Employment Readiness Profile is proposed, which would be an assessment…

Noting that only some of the approaches to helping low achievers learn more successfully have been systematically studied to determine their effectiveness, this paper summarizes what research indicates will help low achievers improve performance, and provides a resource list of books and reports with more details on the topic. Following a brief…

Trends in the growth of the immigrant student population over the last 10 years are traced, and issues and challenges that such students present for the member cities of the Great City Schools are highlighted. About 9.5 million immigrants, representing almost 60% of the nation's entire immigrant population, entered the United States in the 1980s,…

This report discusses measures taken in response to Colorado Senate Bill 92-155, which requests institutions of higher education in the state to ensure that students have the opportunity and needed assistance to complete degrees in a reasonable time. The report also examines degree completion times at Colorado colleges and universities, and…

In November 1993, Hudson County Community College (HCCC) surveyed a sample of enrolled credit students to understand retention and attrition at the college. The survey asked students to list briefly things HCCC could change or improve to improve retention and to indicate why students they knew had left HCCC before finishing their program. In order…

Schools, families, communities, and students must come together and share in the responsibilities of implementing effective policies and programs that address the unique needs of rural youth. A recent survey of 152 rural school principals in a northwestern state examined how they defined at-risk and how they, in turn, identified at-risk students…

A study at Barry University (Florida), a private, urban comprehensive university investigated factors in student retention. Demographic data, standardized test scores, and academic performance data were gathered for almost 3,000 students entering the university between fall 1991 and spring 1995. In addition, the students were surveyed on…

A study used Alexander Astin's (1993) Input-Environment-Output (I-E-O) model to examine persistence at the United States Coast Guard Academy (Connecticut). Because the study was conducted in a controlled social environment, measures of social environmental influence were derived from multiple inputs, including adaptability polls wherein every…

In 1981, the Puente program was established at California's City College of San Francisco to improve the transfer rates of Chicano/Latino students to senior institutions. The program provides a supportive and stimulating environment to help students build confidence in their writing skills and provides extensive counseling and mentoring services.…