The State of American Higher Education Outcomes in 2023

Is the US higher education system providing a baseline level of quality for college students? To answer that question, Third Way has been regularly examining institutional outcomes in three key areas: completion, post-enrollment earnings, and student loan repayment. These metrics are informative in their own right, and they are also closely intertwined. Leaving college with Read more about The State of American Higher Education Outcomes in 2023[…]

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Using Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds to Support Student Transitions from High School to Higher Education

A new policy guide, created in partnership with the College in High School Alliance, Everyone Graduates Center, Linked Learning Alliance, and National College Attainment Network, encourages state and district leaders to use federal coronavirus relief funds to improve college access and success, especially for students who are historically underserved and under-represented in higher education. During Read more about Using Federal COVID-19 Relief Funds to Support Student Transitions from High School to Higher Education[…]

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How can states jump-start college learning in high school?

ExcelinEd recently released a 2-minute video exploring college acceleration opportunities. College acceleration opportunities offer high school students the chance to prepare for college-level expectations while earning valuable college credit.  Best of all, the earned credit from opportunities like Advanced Placement (AP), Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE), College Level Examination Program (CLEP), dual credit, Read more about How can states jump-start college learning in high school?[…]

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Creating Seamless Credit Transfer: A Parallel Higher Ed System

Writing for The Christensen Institute, authors Michael Horn and Richard Price explore the options for improving transfer of credits between higher education institutions. Excerpts of their piece appear below: In an era of increasing data interoperability in almost every sector of life, the idea that today’s students can’t seamlessly transfer credits from one institution to Read more about Creating Seamless Credit Transfer: A Parallel Higher Ed System[…]

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14 Charts That Changed the Way We Looked at America’s Schools in 2019

Kevin Mahnken, writing for The 74, recently selected 14 charts from research conducted in 2019 that have changed the way we look at education in America. These charts help illustrate important studies into school funding disparities, college dropout rates and shifting public opinion. And with a minimum of verbiage, they let the reader know what Read more about 14 Charts That Changed the Way We Looked at America’s Schools in 2019[…]

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College Acceleration for All? Mapping Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment Participation

Researchers from the Community College Research Center at Columbia University are working with Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program to improve the outcomes of college acceleration strategies for underrepresented high school students, particularly students of color and those from low-income families. This research project is designed to better understand the drivers that can increase equitable access Read more about College Acceleration for All? Mapping Racial/Ethnic Gaps in Advanced Placement and Dual Enrollment Participation[…]

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Mentors matter: Good teaching really can be passed down to student teachers, new research finds

Writing for Chalkbeat, Matt Barnum explores the research on the value of being mentored by an expert teacher. Excerpts from the piece appear below: Studies released this year offer real evidence that good teaching can be passed down, in a sense, from mentor teacher to student teacher. In several cases, they find that the performance Read more about Mentors matter: Good teaching really can be passed down to student teachers, new research finds[…]

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College Success Awards: Celebrating high schools that prepare students to succeed in college

GreatSchools has released a first-of-its-kind award recognizing and celebrating high schools that excel in ensuring students are prepared for college based on school-level postsecondary data collected and shared by their states. The award also underscores the need to open up new sets of data so we can shine the light on success and find the Read more about College Success Awards: Celebrating high schools that prepare students to succeed in college[…]

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WWC Review Finds Dual Enrollment Programs Have Positive Impacts on High School Students

Research shows that dual enrollment programs have positive effects on high school achievement and completion, as well as college access, enrollment and degree attainment, according to a new What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) intervention report. The Institute of Education Sciences recently released a report that summarizes research reviewed by the WWC on how dual enrollment programs Read more about WWC Review Finds Dual Enrollment Programs Have Positive Impacts on High School Students[…]

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Colleges Enroll Many Students who Aren’t Prepared

The vast majority of public two- and four-year colleges report enrolling students – more than half a million of them – who are not ready for college-level work, a Hechinger Report investigation of 44 states has found. The numbers reveal a glaring gap in the nation’s education system: A high school diploma, no matter how Read more about Colleges Enroll Many Students who Aren’t Prepared[…]

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A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand and Shortages in the U.S

According to new research conducted by the Learning Policy Institute (LPI), the nation is staring at a serious teacher deficit that is only going to get worse unless steps are taken now to address it. The analysis, “A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand and Shortages in the U.S.,” is part of a package Read more about A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand and Shortages in the U.S[…]

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Expanding the Research Base for Competency-based Education

AEI has released a new series on Competency-Based Higher Education (CBE), titled Innovate and Evaluate: Expanding the Research Base for Competency-based Education. The authors, Andrew P. Kelly and Rooney Columbus say, “Clearly, the benefits of expanding access to CBE could be substantial. But, what does existing research suggest about the likely effect of reforms to promote CBE? Read more about Expanding the Research Base for Competency-based Education[…]

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Practice Based Preparation in Teacher Education

Teacher candidates are more likely to be effective and to stay in the profession when their preparation experiences are connected to classroom practice (Boyd, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2009; Ronfeldt, 2012). Therefore, there has been considerable pressure and effort to strengthen candidate clinical experiences so that they happen early and often within candidates’ preparation. A Read more about Practice Based Preparation in Teacher Education[…]

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The Condition of Education

The National Center for Education Statistics has released The Condition of Education 2016. Listed below are several interesting highlights in this data: 1. Kindergartners’ Approaches to Learning, Family Socioeconomic Status, and Early Academic Gains First-time kindergartners who demonstrated positive approaches to learning behaviors more frequently in the fall of kindergarten tended to make greater gains Read more about The Condition of Education[…]

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Lessons on Teacher Preparation

A group of leading teacher preparation program providers – Deans for Impact – released a set of policy recommendations calling for outcomes-based accountability and data-informed improvement in teacher preparation. Their recommendations are consistent with the following findings: Teacher preparation programs are disconnected from local labor market needs. There is no incentive for teacher education programs to slow the Read more about Lessons on Teacher Preparation[…]

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Improving Teacher Prep Data: Policy Statement from Deans for Impact

Deans for Impact recently looked at nearly two dozen educator preparation programs and found that only six have access to student achievement data connected to the teachers they prepared. Less than a third have access to other kinds of data about their graduates’ performance, like classroom observations. The organization, in a new policy agenda, says Read more about Improving Teacher Prep Data: Policy Statement from Deans for Impact[…]

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