ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Forging New Pathways: The Impact of the Breaking through Initiative in Michigan
Author: Schanker, Jennifer B.
Date: 2012-11-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Adult Students,Community Colleges,Labor Force Development,Technical Education,Adult Vocational Education,Program Effectiveness,Acceleration (Education),Academic Support Services,Student Personnel Services,Alignment (Education),Education Work Relationship,Capacity Building,Educational Policy,Associate Degrees,State Surveys,Case Studies

The Michigan Center for Student Success commissioned this study to determine whether strategies employed to improve adult students' success at 41 Breaking Through colleges nationwide have taken root at Michigan's original colleges and spread beyond them. A statewide survey revisited four of the colleges profiled in previous publications, and the research looked more closely at two additional colleges that have experimented with Breaking Through-type programs. In this research, some themes emerged to guide future state investments: (1) The importance of scaling up from &quot;boutique&quot; programs to serve more students; (2) The need to create clear pathways between noncredit workforce training and credit programs leading to Associate's degrees in occupational disciplines; (3) The significance of investment in upfront program features such as skill assessments and career guidance; and (4) The role of workforce training programs in incubating student success strategies. Based on this research, the Center for Student Success has created a new initiative, Michigan Pathways to Credentials, to broaden the impact of Breaking Through strategies and support the development of career pathways across the state. Supported by a grant from the Kresge Foundation, six colleges will scale up their efforts to support adult students in obtaining credentials leading to family-sustaining careers. Appended are: (1) Breaking Through College Case Studies; and (2) Michigan Breaking Through Statewide Survey Template. [For executive summary, &quot;Forging New Pathways: The Impact of the Breaking Through Initiative in Michigan. Executive Summary,&quot; see ED539873.]
Forging New Pathways: The Impact of the Breaking through Initiative in Michigan. Executive Summary
Author: Schanker, Jennifer B.
Date: 2012-11-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Adult Students,Community Colleges,Labor Force Development,Technical Education,Adult Vocational Education,Program Effectiveness

The Michigan Center for Student Success commissioned this study to determine whether strategies employed to improve adult students' success at 41 Breaking Through colleges nationwide have taken root at Michigan's original colleges and spread beyond them. A statewide survey revisited four of the colleges profiled in previous publications, and the research looked more closely at two additional colleges that have experimented with Breaking Through-type programs. In this research, some themes emerged to guide future state investments: (1) The importance of scaling up from &quot;boutique&quot; programs to serve more students; (2) The need to create clear pathways between noncredit workforce training and credit programs leading to Associate's degrees in occupational disciplines; (3) The significance of investment in upfront program features such as skill assessments and career guidance; and (4) The role of workforce training programs in incubating student success strategies. Based on this research, the Center for Student Success has created a new initiative, Michigan Pathways to Credentials, to broaden the impact of Breaking Through strategies and support the development of career pathways across the state. Supported by a grant from the Kresge Foundation, six colleges will scale up their efforts to support adult students in obtaining credentials leading to family-sustaining careers. [For the full report, &quot;Forging New Pathways: The Impact of the Breaking through Initiative in Michigan,&quot; see ED539872.]
Ahead of the Curve: State Success in the Developmental Education Initiative
Author: Altstadt, David
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Research
Subjects: Postsecondary Education,Community Colleges,Academic Achievement,Educational Improvement,State Government,College Administration,State Action,Developmental Studies Programs,At Risk Students,Remedial Instruction,College Students,Educational Policy,College Readiness,Evidence,Measurement,Educational Innovation

Building on their work through Achieving the Dream, six states and 15 community colleges joined the Developmental Education Initiative (DEI) in 2009 to take on one of higher education's most daunting challenges: improving the success of students who enter community college academically underprepared. The states and Jobs for the Future, which manages the state policy effort for both initiatives, developed the ambitious, evidence-based DEI State Policy Framework to guide large-scale, multifaceted reforms in how community colleges remediate the academic deficiencies of underprepared students. The DEI State Policy Framework targets five policy levers for state action: data and performance measurement; developmental education innovation and redesign; aligned expectations with K-12; assessment and placement; and finance. Within those five policy levers, JFF and the DEI states selected 55 distinct priorities, representing collective thinking on the most promising steps that states could take to improve college success for students placing into developmental education as of the out set of DEI. Additionally, a three-part strategy--data-driven improvement, commitment to innovation, and policy supports--establishes the intended goals of state action on the five policy levers. Three years later, Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia have made significant progress in adopting the DEI policy recommendations, thereby augmenting, accelerating, and spreading developmental education systems change across their community colleges. The Developmental Education Initiative is winding down, yet these states will continue their policy efforts to improve student success through participation in the Postsecondary State Policy Network, which includes states in Achieving the Dream, Completion by Design, and the Student Success Center Network. DEI Self-Assessment Tool is appended. (Contains 6 tables, 8 figures and 6 endnotes.) [For executive summary, &quot;Ahead of the Curve: State Success in the Developmental Education Initiative. Executive Summary,&quot; see ED539875.]
Ahead of the Curve: State Success in the Developmental Education Initiative. Executive Summary
Author: Altstadt, David
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Educational Change,Best Practices,Developmental Studies Programs,Case Studies,Delivery Systems,Remedial Programs,Information Utilization,Program Descriptions,Success,State Programs,Educational Innovation,State Policy,Comprehensive Programs,Change Strategies,Educational Strategies,Educational Improvement,Improvement Programs,Educational Policy

Less than 25 percent of college students who take any developmental education courses earn a credential within eight years. Over the past three years, the six states in the Developmental Education Initiative have developed and enacted unprecedented changes in policy and practice in an effort to reverse these dismal outcomes. &quot;Ahead of the Curve&quot; is the success story of these states--Connecticut, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, and Virginia. Their reform agendas, captured in this latest JFF report, are designed to help more students who are placed in to developmental education accelerate into credit-bearing college courses--and continue their momentum through to credentials with value. Working in concert, this dynamic network of states undertook bold reforms such as redesigning the delivery of remediation, improving the collection and use of student data to guide priorities and investment, and enacting outcomes-based funding to provide incentives for colleges to encourage innovative solutions to long-standing performance challenges. The achievements of these states are all the more noteworthy because they have occurred during extremely tough budgetary times and in the midst of significant research breakthroughs in community college best practices. [For the full report, &quot;Ahead of the Curve: State Success in the Developmental Education Initiative,&quot; see ED539874.]
Aligning Competencies to Rigorous Standards for Off-Track Youth: A Case Study of Boston Day and Evening Academy
Author: Wolfe, Rebecca E.
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Academic Standards,State Standards,Competence,Alignment (Education),Competency Based Education,Youth Opportunities,Youth Programs,Continuation Students,Dropout Programs,Evening Programs,Day Programs,Developmental Studies Programs,Educational Resources,Change Strategies,Educational Strategies,Best Practices,Program Descriptions,Case Studies,At Risk Students,Reentry Students,Special Needs Students,Outreach Programs

For over 17 years, Boston Day and Evening Academy has served a population of young people often left behind: those who are off track to high school graduation or who have dropped out altogether. Through its competency-based approach, BDEA has tackled one of the toughest education conundrums of our time: how to recover low-skilled students two or more years off track to graduation, provide them a rich and rigorous education aligned with the Common Core State Standards, and graduate them quickly and college ready. This report uses BDEA as a model to describe the process of aligning competency-based pathways for off-track youth with rigorous standards. It details how BDEA designs its competencies for struggling students. In addition to a narrative of the process, the brief contains a glossary of terms and numerous examples, tools, and resources to assist educators tackling this work for their schools. Endnotes are included.
Cornerstones of Completion: State Policy Support for Accelerated, Structured Pathways to College Credentials and Transfer. Executive Summary
Author: Couturier, Lara K.
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Descriptive
Subjects: Community Colleges,State Policy,Educational Policy,Partnerships in Education,Transfer Programs,Acceleration (Education),Educational Change

Completion by Design, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is a partnership between participating colleges and state-level policy organizations. The initiative's strong policy component seeks both to change policies in ways that support the colleges' change strategies and to spread the learning and ideas stemming from Completion by Design to the other community colleges in each state. Now that the colleges have settled upon their strategies, the critical next step is for the states to assess how they can best support the institutions and scale up their best innovations as they design and implement structured pathways. However, a robust focus on strengthening student pathways represents a new frontier for both community colleges and the state policy environments in which they operate. As a result, Jobs for the Future (JFF) has looked across the participating states to develop 10 high-leverage policies that can accelerate institutional change toward systemic, student-focused structured pathways. These recommendations are not meant to be prescriptive, nor do they comprise an exhaustive list of potential policies that states could implement to improve postsecondary completion rates. Rather, these policies align tightly to the goal of supporting colleges as they build structured pathways. The policy recommendations are organized by the four phases of the initiative's Preventing Loss, Creating Momentum Framework. This policy brief is designed to be a living document. JFF will vet the document with states, college representatives, and partners on the Completion by Design National Assistance Team, see which ideas gain traction, and revise and adapt it over time to reflect changes in the priorities and strategies of the initiative and its participating colleges and states. [For the full report, "Cornerstones of Completion: State Policy Support for Accelerated, Structured Pathways to College Credentials and Transfer," see ED539876.]
What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review: &quot;Late Interventions Matter Too: The Case of College Coaching in New Hampshire&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2013-02-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: High School Seniors,College Bound Students,Coaching (Performance),Intervention,College Applicants,Program Evaluation,Program Effectiveness,Scores,Grade 10,Academic Achievement,Control Groups,Enrollment,Evidence

&quot;Late Interventions Matter Too--The Case of College Coaching in New Hampshire&quot; examined whether providing college application coaching to high school seniors increased postsecondary enrollment. The program was aimed at students who were considering applying to college but who had made little or no progress in the application process, and who had a tenth grade test score high enough to warrant applying to college. Study authors randomly assigned approximately 950 students from 12 New Hampshire high schools to receive the coaching program or be in the control group. The coaching program was implemented by volunteer college students, and provided in-person assistance with completing college application and financial aid forms, money to cover application fees, and a $100 cash incentive to participants for completing the college application process. Overall, students receiving the intervention had postsecondary enrollment rates that were four percentage points higher than students in the control group (43% versus 39%), but this difference was not statistically significant. However, study authors reported a statistically significant interaction between student gender and program participation: Women who participated in the program enrolled in postsecondary education at a rate that was 12 percentage points higher than women in the control condition (63% versus 51%). For men, the enrollment rates were essentially equal in the intervention and the control conditions. The portion of the study that estimates the impact of the coaching program on college enrollment meets What Works Clearinghouse evidence standards without reservations because it is a randomized controlled trial with no attrition. A more thorough review (forthcoming) will determine whether the follow-up findings for enrollment and the analyses of the impact of the program on enrollment for first-generation college students meet WWC evidence standards.
What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review: &quot;Have We Identified Effective Teachers? Validating Measures of Effective Teaching Using Random Assignment&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Teacher Effectiveness,Teacher Evaluation,Measures (Individuals),Test Validity,Scores,Observation,Student Surveys,Comparative Analysis,Academic Achievement,Achievement Gains,Educational Research

&quot;Have We Identified Effective Teachers? Validating Measures of Effective Teaching Using Random Assignment&quot; tested whether a measure created by study authors could identify teachers who are effective at increasing student achievement. The authors used 2009-10 school year data to create a single composite measure of teacher effectiveness; this composite measure included estimates of teacher value-added to student test scores, data from classroom observations of teachers, and responses to student surveys. Then, for the following school year (2010-11), the authors randomly assigned classrooms of students to teachers (to ensure that there were no measured or unmeasured differences in students assigned to each teacher) and then followed the students' academic progress throughout the school year. The authors compared the students' actual academic achievement with their predicted achievement to determine how well the teacher effectiveness measure identified teachers who were improving student performance beyond their expected gains. The study found that the measure of teacher effectiveness created using 2009-10 data was correlated with student achievement measured at the end of 2010-11. On average, students of teachers who were identified as being relatively more effective had higher achievement gains than students of other teachers in the same school, grade, and subject. Although this study aims to identify effective teachers in terms of improved student achievement, it is not eligible for review by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) because the study does not include identifiable intervention and comparison groups. This study does not test a specific policy, intervention, or practice. Instead, it assesses whether student achievement can be predicted from a continuous measure of teacher effectiveness.
What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review: &quot;Can Scholarships Alone Help Students Succeed? Lessons from Two New York City Community Colleges&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Academic Achievement,College Credits,Grade Point Average,Enrollment,Program Effectiveness,Community Colleges,Control Groups,Grants,Scholarships,Remedial Instruction,Low Income Groups

&quot;Can Scholarships Alone Help Students Succeed? Lessons from Two New York City Community Colleges&quot; examined the effects of performance-based scholarships for low-income community college students (ages 22-35) who were required to enroll in remedial courses. The study evaluated the impact of the scholarships on continued community college enrollment, credits attempted and earned, and cumulative grade-point average (GPA). All study subjects were eligible for Pell Grants. Study authors randomly assigned 1,502 students at two New York City community colleges into one of three groups: (a) students were offered a performance-based scholarship for two semesters (up to $2,600); (b) students were offered a performance-based scholarship for two semesters plus one summer term (up to $3,900); and (c) students were not offered a performance-based scholarship, though these students were still eligible to receive other financial aid. Scholarships were awarded directly to students, on top of their existing financial aid, at the beginning, middle, and end of each semester, contingent on their continued enrollment and grades. The two scholarship groups were combined for most analyses. Study authors reported findings for a number of outcomes related to enrollment, course taking, and grades. The portion of the study that examined enrollment rates reported that at the end of the two-semester program, 78.1% of the scholarship students were still enrolled, versus 76.6% of the students in the control group. Enrollment for the scholarship and control groups, respectively, was 61.9% versus 60.7% one semester after the program ended, and 51.2% versus 49.5% two semesters after the program ended. None of these differences are statistically significant.
What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review: &quot;Information and College Access: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2013-01-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Access to Information,Postsecondary Education,Academic Aspiration,Accuracy,Student Financial Aid,Outcomes of Education,Video Technology,High School Students,Educational Research,Foreign Countries

&quot;Information and College Access: Evidence From a Randomized Field Experiment&quot; examined the impact of offering an online informational video and financial aid materials to high school students on: (1) their postsecondary aspirations, (2) the accuracy of their understanding of financial aid availability, and (3) the accuracy of their estimates of the economic benefits of postsecondary education. More than 1,600 students from five low-achieving high schools in Toronto were invited to complete an online survey about their postsecondary aspirations. After completing the survey, respondents were selected at random to view a three-minute video and to use a financial aid calculator. Students were also given the financial aid application package for local postsecondary institutions along with instructions on how to apply for aid. Students in the control condition did not receive any of these materials. Outcomes were measured by a follow-up online survey conducted three weeks later. The study found that students offered the video and financial aid calculator reported more accurate assessments of returns to postsecondary education, less concern about postsecondary costs, and higher expectations for their educational attainment. The effects may have been larger for students who originally reported that they were unsure about their expected educational attainment. However, because of the need for additional data from the study authors, the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) cannot confirm the statistical significance of any of the study's outcomes. The study is a randomized experiment. Although overall attrition was 40%, attrition rates differed by only one percentage point in the treatment and comparison groups. Therefore, this study could potentially meet WWC evidence standards without reservations. A more thorough review (forthcoming) will be conducted to determine the study rating.
What Works Clearinghouse Quick Review: &quot;Charter School Performance in New Jersey&quot;
Author: What Works Clearinghouse (ED)
Date: 2012-12-00
Type: Reports - Evaluative
Subjects: Reading Achievement,Charter Schools,Achievement Gains,Standardized Tests,Statistical Significance,Effect Size,Mathematics Achievement,Traditional Schools,Elementary School Students,Middle School Students,Comparative Analysis

&quot;Charter School Performance in New Jersey&quot; examined whether students in grades 3-8 attending charter schools in New Jersey made more gains in math and reading achievement than similar students attending traditional public schools. Based on an analysis across charter schools, the authors reported that charter school students made significantly greater year-to-year gains in math and reading than similar students in non-charter schools. Because the authors analyzed gain scores--the difference in standardized test scores from one year to the next--the computed effect sizes are not easily interpretable. The authors calculated that the effect sizes are roughly equivalent to two to three months of learning, but they indicated that this can only be estimated imprecisely and it should be interpreted with caution. Using the same matching method and estimating an impact for each charter school, the authors also reported that the impact of attending a charter school on student math and reading achievement gains varied from school to school. Although students at some charter schools showed significantly higher or significantly lower achievement gains compared to students in non-charter schools, most charter schools had student gains that were not different from the gains of students in non-charter schools. The study meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) standards with reservations. Although the charter school students were matched with traditional public school students on test scores and demographic characteristics, there may be other differences between the groups that were not accounted for in the analysis. In addition, caution must be exercised when interpreting the results of analysis of impacts by school, because the authors did not adjust for the fact that, when conducting multiple statistical tests of significance (in this case, one for each charter school), it becomes more likely that some impacts will be statistically significant by chance. Thus, the percentages of schools exhibiting statistically significant differences in gains may be overstated.