9-12

In this conference paper, the author notes that good jobs require access to postsecondary education and training. There is a growing economic divide between adults with and without postsecondary education and training. The author recommends that policies be put into place that assist non-traditional students and students with barriers to access postsecondary education.

This brief discusses the findings from a poll, funded by Achieve, Inc., to gain insight on how the general public perceives the college and career-ready agenda in education. The results indicate that there is strong agreement that postsecondary education and training of some sort is needed in order to succeed and that strong standards and assessments are needed to ensure students graduate ready for postsecondary education.

This report from America's Promise Alliance discusses the nation's dropout rates during 2010-11 and what is being done to improve the situation. The report highlights that working collaboratively in local communities and across the nation can stem the dropout tide, meet national goals, and ensure the next generation of students are educated to meet the increasing demands of our society, economy, and democracy. It encourages states, districts, schools and communities to adopt the Civic Marshall Plan framework and benchmarks to organize and accelerate efforts.

This Doing What Works toolkit provides advice for students in navigating the process to apply and attend college and where to find additional resources to assist. The toolkit includes visual diagrams, expert interviews, state and district level examples of how to improve college access, and downloadable planning templates.

Information Brief 96-1 illustrates factors that can help ethnic minorities be better prepared for college.

This report from ACT discusses the correlation between student retention, ACT composite scores, and college grade point average. Though ACT Composite scores are effective predictors of academic success in general, the scores are more effective at predicting academic success among returning students than non-returning students. This finding, as well as the mean difference in grade point averages, suggest that students returning for a second year have overcome some of the academic and non-academic obstacles that influenced their counterparts not to return.

This study provides descriptive statistics about Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in Tennessee high schools. The study used school-level data, including both regular and special education graduates in more than 300 schools. The report identified a discrepancy between the distribution of students across CTE education areas and the extent to which those areas correspond to high demand high wage occupations.

This brief from the Alliance for Excellent Education argues that providing students with flexibility regarding where, when, how and from whom students learn will help support the nation’s goal of graduating students who are ready for college and a career. The brief outlines some of the challenges that the current organization of the school day presents and proposes some alternatives, including some brief profiles of specific initiatives that support more comprehensive approaches to expanded learning opportunities.

This report, sponsored by the Wallace Foundation, discusses the challenges and next steps for expanding learning time that were discussed at a May 2011 Wallace Foundation National Forum. The authors explain that despite a tight economic climate and a need for stronger research on what works in expanding learning time, the time is right to work on increasing learning time.