Transition: High School to Career

This meta-analysis of 30 studies examines whether social and/or communicative skills interventions helped to improve transition or transition related outcomes in high school aged students with disabilities. Results showed 1) little support for interventions aimed at augmentative and alternative communication; 2) modest support for interventions focused on the acquisition of conversation skills or social skills training. The authors were unable to conduct a meta-analysis of Interventions designed to reduce inappropriate social behaviors.

This practice-based literature review from the National Secondary Transition Technical Assistance Center (NSTTAC) provides a summary of research, from the past 20 years, that examines the impact of functional/life skills curricular interventions on high school-aged students with disabilities. Findings provide tentative support for the impact of these interventions on transition-related outcomes. Implications for practice are discussed.

This report from the National High School Center outlines steps that schools can take to identify at-risk students and provide the necessary support systems and relevant interventions to assist students in obtaining a high school diploma. Further, the report discusses the use of early warning data systems to target interventions for groups and individual students, offers a variety of best practice approaches undertaken by higher-performing high schools, and presents effective programs that are currently being implemented to stem the dropout problem.

This policy brief released by the National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability at the Institute for Educational Leadership identifies five broad policy and practice areas critical to ensuring all students--and especially those with disabilities--are prepared to succeed in high school and in their post-secondary careers. The brief makes 14 recommendations spread across the five areas and provides suggestions on what organizations can support these recommendations.

This white paper from Jobs for the Future provides state-level policymakers with a framework for raising graduation rates in their states. The five commitments offered in this piece are: 1) A High School Diploma That Signifies College and Work-Readiness, 2) Pathways to High School Graduation and College for Overage, Undercredited, and Out-of-School Youth, 3) Turnaround of Low-performing High Schools, 4) Increased Emphasis on Graduation Rates and College-Readiness in Next Generation Accountability, and 5) Early and Continuous Support for Struggling Students.

This study from MDRC uses a large-scale, multisite, experimental design to determine the effects of Career Academies on a range of student educational, developmental, and work-related outcomes, including student achievement and student engagement. This report provides information on the implementation of Career Academies.

This WestEd case study of five schools looks at successes in improving graduation and college acceptance rates. The schools were also profiled in a 2004 report, and each school has strengthened its courses in both rigor and number offered. The authors highlight five lessons from each of the schools including: helping students see college as an attainable goal; strengthening academic programs; ensuring a coherent curriculum from middle grades through high school; providing extra support during students’ critical freshmen year; and drawing out-of-school youth back into the classroom.

This ACT, Inc., policy report discusses and investigates the inconsistencies between a typical high school curriculum and what a student needs to know in order to be prepared for the workforce or postsecondary education. The report also stresses that the lack of academic rigor found in many high schools plays a part in the ensuing disconnect.

This report, commissioned by the California Teachers Association’s (CTA) High School Restructuring Task Force and authored by WestEd, synthesizes the major initiatives on high school reform taking place nationally and in California. The publication provides: 1) clear synthesis of the problem and context; 2) research on high-performing high schools, comprehensive school reform models, and the barriers to improvement; 3) current reform proposals and their research base; and 4) suggestions for further discussion and exploration by CTA.