9-12

LAUSD College-Prep Plan Faces Uphill Struggle, Harvard Study Says

A Harvard study found that just 16 percent of Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Class of 2011 passed the classes needed to attend California's public universities, an indicator of the challenges facing the district as it makes rigorous college-prep courses a requirement for graduation. Researchers tracked LAUSD’s Class of 2011 from the time students entered ninth grade, creating a snapshot of how many graduated four years later and how many completed the A-G curriculum.

New NCES Report on Dual-Enrollment

Submitted by CCRS Center on

On March 5th, the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) published a new report on dual enrollment programs.  The report, Dual Enrollment Programs and Courses for High School Students at Postsecondary Institutions: 2010–11, provides descriptive data on the prevalence and focus of dual enrollment courses.  The data was gathered through a national survey of high schools and postsecondary institutions.

Precollege Skills Enhancement: The Effects of Technology and Parental Participation

This study examines a pre-college academic enrichment program, the Skills Enhancement Approach. This program included the participation of 117 high school students from 10 schools who took sessions focused on topics related to the American College Test (ACT). Some of the preliminary results included: high parental support, improved overall student test performance on the simulated ACT, strong correlation between reading and science scores on the simulated tests, and improved student attitudes.

Career and Technical Education in New York State: Final Evaluation Report 2005-2006

This study examines the implementation and impact of New York State’s career technical education (CTE) programs. CTE student’s courses, graduation rates, perceptions and academic achievement were reviewed from nine CTE sites. Results revealed that students in these programs are generally offered curricula that are characterized by rigorous standards and perform at par with their non-CTE classmates.

Career Development Interventions and Academic Self-Efficacy and Motivation: A Pilot Study

This study examines the relationship between academic motivation and self-efficacy and participation in career development interventions. A national sample of 293 high school students was analyzed based on these sentiments and their participation in 44 career development interventions. The study revealed that there was no association between the participation in these interventions and academic motivation or self-efficacy.

Raising Academic Standards and Vocational Concentrators: Are They Better Off Or Worse Off?

This paper explores the affect of more rigorous graduation requirements on learning, college attendance, course taking and employment outcomes for vocational concentrators and non-concentrators. Longitudinal data was collected from a nationally representative sample of students, which followed them from 8th grade through eight years after high school graduation. The analysis showed that requiring a higher number of academic credits to graduate and Minimum Competency Exams help high school graduates’ success in the labor market, but lowers their probability of receiving a college degree.

Waiving Away High School Graduation Rate Accountability?

In November 2011, eleven states submitted applications to the U.S. Department of Education (ED) for waivers from up to ten provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), now known as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Although the state waiver process currently underway presents an opportunity to strengthen college and career readiness among the nation’s high school students, the waiver applications as submitted may also have the unintended consequence of weakening high school graduation rate accountability.

Determinants of Students’ Success: The Role of Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment Programs

This study examines whether Advance Placement (AP) and Dual Enrollment (DE) programs improve college access and success. Student records were obtained for two cohorts of all high school students in Florida. The study found that both AP and DE are associated with positive outcomes; however, DE students are more likely than AP students to attend college, but less likely to first enroll in a four-year college.

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