State Policies on Student Transitions PDF Download

Author: Peter Ewell
Publisher:
ISBN:
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Languages : en
Pages : 21

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Book Description
A central objective of state policy is to move larger numbers of citizens through the "educational pipeline" to attain a college degree. In part this objective recognizes that the U.S. is losing its historic dominance in the proportion of young adults with a postsecondary credential (OECD, 2007). Equally important in stimulating change is widespread recognition that possessing a high school diploma no longer guarantees middle class earnings and life styles. But acknowledgement of the importance of this goal across the states does not guarantee equal levels of policy attention and states vary widely in the ways they choose to address these issues. The intent of the NCHEMS (National Center for Higher Education Management Systems) Student Transitions Study, funded by the Lumina Foundation for Education, is to document these many differences. The study concentrates on four key transitions that directly affect the number of college graduates that a state can generate. The first is the transition from high school to college. This transition is influenced by policies that establish high school exit standards, put college-preparatory high school curricula in place, establish explicit competency or skill levels that define "college readiness," or create dual enrollment programs through which high school students can earn college credit. The second transition is from pre-college to college-level work. This is affected by policies governing basic skills testing and placement. The third transition is from two-year to four-year institutions of higher education. This is affected by state policies about transfer of credits and degrees. The fourth and final transition is from the status of being enrolled in a postsecondary institution to having graduated from one. This is affected by policies on acceleration or the availability of alternative ways for students to make progress, and the provision of incentives to institutions to increase graduation rates or incentives to students to graduate on time. Sections of the report on each of these topics describe the approaches taken by the fifty states. Appendices include: (1) Initial Contact Letter; and (2) Transitions Data Collection Protocol. (Contains 5 tables and 7 footnotes.).