The bachelor’s degree is America’s most commonly granted postsecondary degree—and most people equate it with a college education. Yet the associate’s degree is often a far more efficient route into good jobs than the longer, more expensive bachelor’s degree path. In this blog post, Mark Schneider shares recent data that ...
A decade ago, the U.S. Department of Education began reporting “Student Right To Know” graduation rates for America’s colleges and universities. While this federally mandated measure is flawed, it still captures the completion statistics of one of the nation’s largest groups of students. As this blog post shows, the news ...
This policy brief outlines the barriers to higher education for students and provides policymakers and practitioners with research-based policy options, examples of best practice, and resources that can help all students increase their access to higher education.
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District has witnessed increases in the number of English learner students in grades K–12 over recent years. This study investigated the relationships of student and school characteristics with English learner student performance on statewide mathematics and English language arts assessments, and on English language proficiency levels. ...
This report examines three questions concerning students pursuing postsecondary certificates or associate’s degrees in career-related fields (occupational students): (1) Who enters postsecondary occupational education? (2) To what extent do these students attain their credential goals? (3) What are the labor market outcomes for those who earn credentials? ...
Recent data shows that while students from low-income families began 9th grade with high aspirations of going to college, by junior year their expectations decline considerably. In this blog post, Sakiko Ikoma and Markus Broer argue that closing the enrollment gap between low-income students and their more affluent counterparts means ...
This paper describes the postsecondary transitions of students taking CTE courses in high school using administrative data on one cohort of high school graduates in Washington State.
Prior research shows that rural students’ education expectations and aspirations, as well as their postsecondary enrollment and persistence rates, tend to be lower than those of nonrural students. This study aims to support policymakers and other stakeholders in the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Midwest states by informing policy recommendations for ...
Student learning objectives (SLOs) have emerged as a novel approach to measuring student growth, particularly for the majority of educators not covered by a state standardized assessment. This report offers some ideas for states and districts that are considering the use of SLOs to measure student growth, including a basic ...
Parents, teachers, schools, districts, states, and especially students all want schools that prepare graduates to thrive in the 21st century. In this blog post, Anne Mishkind asks what it means to be "college and career ready."