Transition: High School to College

Part of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) guidelines for a statewide college- and career-ready agenda, these guidelines are provided to support states, districts, and schools develop teacher development plans for senior-year transitional courses. The guidelines include seven specific policy recommendations for the development of statewide teacher development plans for transitional courses and shares promising practices and policies from the states in the SREB region.

This report provides a progress update on the work the Southern Regional Education Board and its partner states completed on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded grant project, Strengthening Statewide College/Career Readiness Initiative (SSCRI). The grant focused on strengthening the college- and career-readiness initiatives in five states: Florida, Kentucky, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. This report focuses on the progress these states have made in regards to the design and implementation of transitional courses in reading, writing, and mathematics.

This report provides a final progress update on the work the Southern Regional Education Board and its partner states completed on Strengthening Statewide College/Career Readiness Initiative (SSCRI), a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded grant project that began early in 2008 and ended in April 2011. The project focused on strengthening the college- and career-readiness initiatives in six states: Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia.

This brief identifies key issues associated with the college readiness gap and causes of this gap, as well as outlines steps state policymakers and educators can take close the college readiness gap in their states. In order to ensure students are prepared for postsecondary success, a statewide college readiness agenda should be in place. Components of this college readiness agenda include: readiness standards, assessments, curriculum, teacher development, college placement, and state accountability. 

This brief provides policymakers with elements to consider when developing state policies around implementing high school transitional courses aimed at improving college completion rates. The brief includes questions for consideration, examples of existing state policies and actions, and recommendations for effective policies for transitional courses. 

This report includes vignettes from teachers reflecting on their use of tools--the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) and Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC)--aimed at preparing students for college and careers. The vignettes included in this report are the result of interviews with teachers between September 2012 and January 2013 where educators reflected on their teaching styles, changes in student motivation and engagement, and changes in their own behavior while using the LDC and MDC tools.