Education and Literacy;Employment and Labor
For those who question the value of college in this era of soaring student debt and high unemployment, the attitudes and experiences of today's young adults -- members of the so-called Millennial generation -- provide a compelling answer. On virtually every measure of economic well-being and career attainment -- from personal earnings to job satisfaction to the share employed full time -- young college graduates are outperforming their peers with less education. And when today's young adults are compared with previous generations, the disparity in economic outcomes between college graduates and those with a high school diploma or less formal schooling has never been greater in the modern era.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States
Five Idaho colleges increased retention rates for non-traditional students by 500 percent above the national average by simply changing key practices. Results were achieved through a three-year pilot designed to improve retention and completion rates at Idaho community and technical colleges and fuel the state's economy with skilled workers.
Non-traditional students -- unemployed workers, alternative high school students, young single parents and dropouts -- face work schedule conflicts, family obligations and geographic and financial barriers to higher education. Statistically, more than half of students who enter a two-year certificate or degree program in Idaho drop out in the second year, often debt-ridden.
The pilot project, funded by the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, used nationally proven best practices designed to lower barriers and develop resilience. Schools delivered enhanced advising, mentoring and remediation techniques; monitored student progress; and created support groups for almost 500 non-traditional students.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Western) / Idaho
Education and Literacy;Race and Ethnicity;Women
This study examines the existing knowledge base about promoting Latina educational success, defined as completing high school and then going on to secure a college degree. It also adds to existing research by examining two large data sets - one national, and one California-based for predictors of successful educational outcomes for representative samples of Latina youth who have recently been in high school and college. Finally, after identifying important predictors of success from the existing literature, and the examination of current data, the study incorporates case studies of seven young Latinas who illustrate pathways of women who are finding their way to educational success through high school, community college, and four year universities. Their stories provide a deeper understanding of the challenges that young Latinas encounter in our culture, as well as the promise they represent.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States
Children and Youth;Education and Literacy;Race and Ethnicity
The Expanded Success Initiative (ESI) provides funding and technical support to 40 relatively successful New York City high schools to help them improve college and career readiness among black and Latino male students. This preliminary report describes key components and strategies of ESI and begins to look at factors that might influence the potential to apply ESI more broadly.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Northeastern) / New York / New York County / New York City;North America / United States (New York Metropolitan Area)
Education and Literacy, Employment and Labor
The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has long advocated that any meaningful understanding of "effective" teaching must be rooted in results for kids. Whatever else they accomplish in the classroom, effective teachers improve student achievement. It seems like commonsense. Yet, until recently, it has been an exceptional way of thinking about teacher quality, totally out of step with teacher policy across the states.
As part of the annual State Teacher Policy Yearbook, NCTQ has systematically collected and analyzed state policies on teacher preparation, training, retention, compensation and other personnel policies. In this paper we provide:
1. A detailed and up-to-date lay of the land on teacher evaluation policies across the 50 states and the District of Columbia Public Schools;
2. An in-depth look at policy in states promising ambitious teacher evaluation systems (states requiring student growth and achievement to be a significant or the most significant factor in teacher ratings), including states' efforts to "connect the dots" and use teacher evaluation results in meaningful ways to inform policy and practice;
3. A compilation of some of the important lessons learned, pitfalls and successes states have experienced on the road to improving teacher evaluation systems.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America-United States
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS), which aim to assure competency in English/language arts and mathematics through the K-12 curriculum, define necessary but not sufficient preparedness for success in college. The Degree Qualifications Profile (DQP), which describes what a college degree should signify, regardless of major, offers useful but not sufficient guidance to high school students preparing for college study. A coordinated strategy to prepare students to succeed in college would align these two undertakings and thus bridge an unfortunate and harmful cultural chasm between the K-12 world and that of higher education. Chasms call for bridges, and the bridge proposed by this white paper could create a vital thoroughfare.
The white paper begins with a description of the CCSS and an assessment of their significance. A following analysis then explains why the CCSS, while necessary, are not sufficient as a platform for college success. A corresponding explanation of the DQP clarifies the prompts that led to its development, describes its structure, and offers some guidance for interpreting the outcomes that it defines. Again, a following analysis considers the potential of the DQP and the limitations that must be addressed if that potential is to be more fully realized.
The heart of the white paper lies in sections 5 and 6, which provide a crosswalk between the CCSS and the DQP. These sections show how alignments and differences between the two may point to a comprehensive preparedness strategy. They also offer a proposal for a multifaceted strategy to realize the potential synergy of the CCSS and the DQP for the benefit of high school and college educators and their students -- and the nation.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States
To better understand how adult education programs might strengthen pathways to college and careers, MDRC, with financial support from the Robin Hood Foundation and MetLife Foundation, partnered with LaGuardia Community College of the City University of New York (CUNY) to launch a small but rigorous study of the GED Bridge to Health and Business program.
The GED Bridge program represents a promising new approach to GED instruction, as it aims to better prepare students not only to pass the GED exam, but also to continue on to college and training programs. MDRC has conducted several evaluations of programs that include GED preparation as one among many program components, but this evaluation is one of only a few to focus specifically on GED curriculum, program design, and efforts to forge a stronger link to college and career training.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Northeastern) / New York / New York County / New York City
The Road Map Project seeks to double the number of students on track to graduate with a postsecondary degree or career credential in the South Seattle and South King County, Wash., region by 2020, as well as to close achievement gaps. It will do this by driving a dramatic improvement in student achievement from "cradle to career" in South Seattle and South King County. The project builds on the belief that collective effort is necessary to make large-scale change and has created a common goal and shared vision in order to facilitate coordinated action, both inside and outside schools.
August 1970
Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Western) / Washington / King County
