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Under increasing pressure to raise graduation rates and ensure that students leave high school college- and career-ready, many school and district leaders may believe that, when students graduate with college acceptances in hand, their work is done. But as Benjamin L. Castleman and Lindsay C. Page show, summer can be a time of significant attrition among college-intending seniors--especially those from low-income families. Anywhere from 10 to 40 percent of students presumed to be headed to college fail to matriculate at "any" postsecondary institution in the fall following high school. "Summer Melt" explores the complex factors that contribute to this trend--the absence of school support, confusion over paperwork, lack of parental guidance, and the teenage tendency to procrastinate. The authors draw on findings from fields such as neuroscience, behavioral economics, and social psychology to contextualize these factors. Drawing on a series of research studies, they show how schools and districts can develop effective, low-cost, scalable responses--including counselor outreach, peer mentoring, and using text messages and social media--to help students stay on track over the summer. "Summer Melt" offers very practical guidance for schools and districts committed to helping their students make the transition to college. An index is included.

In "Lifting the Veil on the Enrollment Management Industry," Stephen J. Burd brings together higher education journalists, researchers, and industry insiders to examine how this industry has evolved to shape US college admissions since its inception in the 1980s. Noting the inequities that have been caused or perpetuated by enrollment management strategies, the contributors offer specific recommendations and policy proposals to reduce the industry's influence and restore equitable access to education. The book begins with a lively historical overview of the enrollment management industry, tracing its roots to college efforts to maintain financial viability, including early data-mining projects that focused on metrics such as yield rates, draw rates, and recruitment spending. Trenchant essays explore how the industry became established and reveal some of the factors that contributed to its rise, including fervid interest in college rankings, the privatization of public higher education, and the structure of federal financial aid. The work reveals how the industry's practices for student recruiting effectively disadvantage minoritized and low-income students, limiting college access and affordability both directly and indirectly. It ends with suggestions for systemic changes in the business of higher education, making the case for efforts such as price controls for public universities and enhanced cooperation among institutions and with the federal government that could lead to fairer admissions practices at both public and private universities.

In "School Communities of Strength," Peter W. Cookson, Jr., lays out a blueprint for providing equitable educational opportunities for students from all socioeconomic strata, and particularly for the five million American children who live with the extreme material hardship known as deep poverty. This work issues an urgent call to action for K-12 schools to put in place the policies, practices, and programs that enable economically vulnerable students to thrive. Drawing from up-to-date findings in the science of learning and development as well as analyses of schools that serve students in poverty, Cookson pinpoints success strategies that can help schools improve their poverty responsiveness. He shows how these strategies, including whole-child teaching and learning, asset-based approaches, and relationship-centered school culture, can help educators create the culturally responsive, inclusive environments that provide a base of safety from which students can better engage with their education. Offering astute analysis, Cookson notes that school communities of strength require adequate funding and also meaningful collaboration among families, neighborhood partners, and educators. This book amplifies the idea that communities working together can drive transformative change, and it brings into focus three primary policy initiatives--to fully invest in whole students, to fully invest in schools, and to fully invest in eliminating the causes of deep poverty--that can advance educational equity. [Foreword by David C. Berliner.]

"Rethinking College Admissions" probes the many facets of higher education admissions and translates research-backed insights into actionable strategies for innovative, equitable admissions practices. Edited by scholars OiYan A. Poon and Michael N. Bastedo, this collection gives readers an evidence-based understanding of postsecondary admissions practices and structures, exploring many factors that affect college access and educational equity in the United States. These collected essays from leading experts present boundary-pushing applied research on admissions, with implications for policy, practice, and leadership. The volume considers admissions issues from three angles. In the opening essays, contributors offer critical analyses of current admissions approaches in higher education, delineating the delicate balance of equity-building efforts and legal pressures. The contributors offer reflections on whether and how admissions systems further inclusion or inequality. They examine topics such as race-conscious admissions, holistic review without standardized test scores, and student test preparation. The volume's next part discusses the many different ways in which admissions work can be done, outlines ethical hazards, and considers potential areas for organizational change. The final essays provide inroads and examples for developing reciprocal relationships in research and practice for the future. They discuss promising approaches for advancing campus diversity, such as admissions lotteries, direct enrollment, and institutional promise programs for high-achieving students from low-income communities. A must-read for practitioners, policy makers, and anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of postsecondary admissions structures, including K-12 educators and counselors, advocacy groups, and students, this work supports data-informed approaches to higher education admissions.

"A Dream Defaulted" explores how the student loan crisis disproportionately affects Black borrowers and why rising student debt is both a cause and consequence of social inequality in the United States. Authors Jason N. Houle and Fenaba R. Addo offer a deft analysis of the growing financial crisis in education, examining its sources and its impacts. Based on more than five years of ongoing qualitative and quantitative research, this incisive work illustrates how the student loan system has not benefited all students equally. The authors tell the story of how first-generation college students, low-income students, and students of color are disadvantaged in two opposing phases of the process: debt accumulation and debt repayment. They further demonstrate that policies intended to mitigate financial burden and prevent default have failed to assist the people who most need help. Houle and Addo present these social and racial disparities within a broader context, tracing how centuries of institutionalized racism have contributed to social and economic inequities, perpetuating the racial wealth gap and leading to intergenerational inequality. Through interviews with borrowers, the authors illuminate the ways in which racial disparities affect who has college access, how and why people take on debt, and who has the ability to repay student loan debt after leaving college. Recognizing that the affordability crisis cannot be solved by higher education reform alone, the authors consider solutions. They argue that policy must extend beyond debt reduction and financial aid to address entrenched patterns of racial inequality and racial discrimination, both inside and outside institutions of higher education. [Foreword written by Ayanna Pressley.]

"Equality or Equity" sets forth a compelling argument urging us to shift our understanding of the role of our education system from providing equal opportunity to building an equitable society. A leading scholar-practitioner and ardent proponent of culturally responsive forms of education, Jeffrey M. R. Duncan-Andrade aims to settle the debates over whether we should work toward a public education system built on the goal of equality, in which identical resources are provided for all students, or equity, in which different resources are offered in response to differences in student interests and needs. Duncan-Andrade centers his argument on the importance of creating meaningful education experiences for all students, particularly for low-income students of color and immigrant students, who have gained relatively fewer benefits from decades of equality-focused education reform. Drawing on research from across a range of disciplines, including neuroscience, social epidemiology, public health, and social work, Duncan-Andrade introduces three essential domains of a pedagogy that are both culturally and community responsive: relationships, relevance, and responsibility. He enlists the voices of practitioners to provide grounded examples of what community-responsive pedagogy looks like in each of these domains. These examples demonstrate how equitable classroom practices can enrich student engagement, enhance trauma responsiveness, and improve educational outcomes. "Equality or Equity" makes an urgent appeal for designing and implementing a truly equitable school system and shows us how we can begin to accomplish that goal.

"Teaching Students About the World of Work" argues that educational institutions--especially two-year and four-year public institutions serving low-income students--need to make the topic of employment a central element in their educational offerings. Indeed, the book demonstrates that a far greater emphasis on teaching students about the work world will be necessary if colleges are to give disadvantaged students a realistic chance for professional and economic success. The recommendation is a reconfiguration of postsecondary education that represents a paradigm shift in career preparation and learning. Editors Nancy Hoffman and Michael Lawrence Collins and their authors provide a rich and comprehensive view of both today's work world and the challenges facing many young people who are determined to find a place within it. The book offers detailed accounts of how several community colleges have put employment at the center of the curriculum; provides practical insights into the twenty-first century labor market and ways to improve the choices and outcomes for low-income job seekers; and explores the daunting structural barriers to securing successful and satisfying employment. Throughout all its chapters, the book highlights increasing inequalities--in both opportunities and outcomes--within our society. In order to redress those disparities, it argues, postsecondary educators will need to offer enhanced insights and sophistication to disadvantaged young people preparing to enter and navigate the work world. An urgent but unfailingly reasonable book for our times, "Teaching Students About the World of Work" will be required reading for educators determined to create practical opportunities for young people in search of good employment and better lives. [Foreword by Garrett Moran.]

In "Districts That Succeed," long-time education writer Karin Chenoweth turns her attention from effective schools to effective districts. Leveraging new, cutting-edge national research on district performance as well as in-depth reporting, Chenoweth profiles five districts that have successfully broken the correlation between race, poverty, and achievement. Focusing on high performing or rapidly improving districts that serve children of color and children from low-income backgrounds, the book explores the common elements that have led to the districts' successes, including leadership, processes, and systems. "Districts That Succeed" reveals that helping more students achieve is not a matter of adopting a program or practice. Rather, it requires developing a district-wide culture where all adults feel responsible for the academic well-being of students and adopt systems and processes that support that culture. Chenoweth explores how districts, from urban Chicago, Illinois to rural Seaford, Delaware, have organized themselves to look at data to guide improvement. Her research highlights the essential role of districts in closing achievement gaps and illustrates how successful outliers can serve as resources for other districts. With important lessons for district leaders and policy makers alike, Chenoweth offers the hard-won wisdom of educators who understand the power of schools to, as one superintendent says, "change the path of poverty."

"On My Own: The Challenge and Promise of Building Equitable STEM Transfer Pathways" is the first book of its kind to provide a detailed, on-the-ground examination of the difficult paths--curricular, interpersonal, and institutional--that students must chart through community college. The book follows 1,670 two-year college students over four years as they begin STEM programs in the Midwest and documents their educational and life experiences as they moved toward, or away, from the prospect of transfer to a four-year institution. Their stories reveal that they were on their own, left to navigate the pathways to transfer without meaningful institutional support. The students pursued one of four pathways, or "momentum trajectories: linear upward, detoured, deferred, or taking a break." The preexisting and lasting disparities in their access to education and financial resources, their experiences with teaching and advising, and the conundrum between support from and for family, among others, propelled them onto different trajectories in their quest for transfer. As this book makes painfully clear, the current state of transfer acts as a mechanism that perpetuates and worsens inequities in educational outcomes. As Xueli Wang argues, to cultivate an equitable STEM transfer pathway, culturally relevant and responsive supports that are accessible, welcoming, and validating must be put in place at the institutional level and appeal to the talent, motivation, and unique needs of historically marginalized students. In doing so, postsecondary institutions will be better positioned to fulfill their promise as an equitable pathway to bachelor's degrees and beyond.

Informed by years of research and on-the-ground reporting, "Schools That Succeed" is Karin Chenoweth's most inspiring and compelling book yet--an essential read for educators who seek to break the stubborn connection between academic achievement and socioeconomic status. Chenoweth draws on her decade-long journey into neighborhood schools where low-income students and students of color are learning at unexpectedly high levels to reveal a key ingredient to their success: in one way or another, their leaders have confronted the traditional ways that schools are organized and adopted new systems, all focused on improvement. In vivid profiles of once-embattled schools, Chenoweth shows how school leaders doggedly and patiently reorganized internal systems in order to prioritize teaching and learning, resulting in improved outcomes that in many cases exceeded statewide averages. From how they use time to how they use money, schools that succeed combine a deep belief in the capacity of their students to achieve with deliberate systems focused on student needs. As a result, they create vibrant places "where teachers want to teach and students want to learn."

"Matching Students to Opportunity" expands on the discussion of a critical issue in college access and success: the match between prospective students and the colleges in which they enroll. Research indicates that ensuring a good match significantly increases a student's chance of graduating. The contributors to this volume argue that the discussion of college match must be broadened to include students at all levels of achievement--not just the most academically qualified--and must take into consideration dimensions other than academic selectivity, such as geography and price. Drawing on original empirical research, they examine the preferences that shape students' choices and assess their importance in ensuring students' success. They look at institutional practices that contribute to the problem of under matching, and ask how local, state, and federal policy can help change both the demand and supply sides of the college match equation. Written with policy makers, researchers, and higher education professionals in mind, Matching Students to Opportunity advances the current conversation on college access, match, and completion, and offers a valuable addition to public policy discussions on this timely and urgent topic. After an introduction by the editors, the table of contents presents the following chapters: (1) The College Match Indicator: Linking Research to Practice (Jenny Nagaoka, Matthew A. Holsapple, and Melissa Roderick); (2) Academic Match and Fit: What Can We Learn from Stated Preferences, Student Actions, and Collegiate Outcomes? (Jessica S. Howell, Matea Pender, and Amal Kumar); (3) Average Students and College Match: Looking Beyond the Elite (Awilda Rodriguez and Christian Martell); (4) Matching Talents to Careers: From Self-Directed to Guided Pathways (Thomas R. Bailey, Davis Jenkins, Clive R. Belfield, and Elizabeth Kopko); (5) The Supply Side of College Match: Where Are the Seats? (Andrew P. Kelly); (6) Enrollment Management and the Low-Income Student: How Holistic Admissions and Market Competition Can Impede Equity (Michael N. Bastedo); (7) On Undermatch and College Cost: A Case Study of the Pittsburgh Promise (Lindsay C. Page and Jennifer E. Iriti); (8) The Effect of State Policy on College Choice and Match: Shaping Students' Choices (Joshua S. Goodman, Michael Hurwitz, and Jonathan Smith); and (9) Federal Mechanisms for Improving College Match: Information, Aid, and Accountability. Notes, Acknowledgments, sections about the editors and the contributors, and an index are also included.

In this landmark volume, Greg J. Duncan and Richard J. Murnane lay out a meticulously researched case showing how--in a time of spiraling inequality--strategically targeted interventions and supports can help schools significantly improve the life chances of low-income children. The authors offer a brilliant synthesis of recent research on inequality and its effects on families, children, and schools. They describe the interplay of social and economic factors that has made it increasingly hard for schools to counteract the effects of inequality and that has created a widening wedge between low- and high-income students. "Restoring Opportunity" provides detailed portraits of proven initiatives that are transforming the lives of low-income children from prekindergarten through high school. All of these programs are research-tested and have demonstrated sustained effectiveness over time and at significant scale. Together, they offer a powerful vision of what good instruction in effective schools can look like. The authors conclude by outlining the elements of a new agenda for education reform. "Restoring Opportunity" is a crowning contribution from these two leading economists in the field of education and a passionate call to action on behalf of the young people on whom our nation's future depends. An index is included.

In "The Convergence of K-12 and Higher Education," two leading scholars of education policy bring together a distinguished and varied array of contributors to systematically examine the growing convergence between the K-12 and higher education sectors in the United States. Though the two sectors have traditionally been treated as distinct and separate, the editors show that the past decade has seen an increasing emphasis on the alignment between the two. At the same time, the national focus on outcomes and accountability, originating in the K-12 sector, is exerting growing pressure on higher education, while trends toward privatization and diversification--long characteristic of the postsecondary sector--are influencing public schools. This volume makes the powerful case that it is no longer possible to think of one sector in the absence of the other, given the economic, demographic, and technological forces that are pushing the educational system toward convergence. Taken together, the chapters in this book provide a promising new line of inquiry for examining contemporary questions in education policy. Contents include: (1) Framing Convergence (Christopher P. Loss and Patrick J. McGuinn); (2) Governance as a Source of Sector Convergence in a Changing Sociopolitical Landscape (Kevin J. Dougherty and Jeffrey R. Henig); (3) From Helping the Poor to Helping the Middle Class: The Convergence of Federal K-12 and Higher Education Funding Policy Since 1965 (Adam R. Nelson and Nicholas M. Strohl); (4) Individuality or Community?: Bringing Assessment and Accountability to K-16 Education (Arnold F. Shober); (5) Teacher Policy Under the ESEA and the HEA: A Convergent Trajectory with an Unclear Future (Dan Goldhaber and Nate Brown); (6) Institutional Assessment and Accountability (Luciana Dar); (7) College for All and the Convergence of High School and Community College (James Rosenbaum, Caitlin Ahearn, Chenny Ng, and Jiffy Lansing); (8) College Access and Opportunity (Donnell Butler); (9) Preparing Students for College: Common Core and the Promises and Challenges of Convergence (Josipa Roksa); (10) Technology and Education in the United States: Policy, Infrastructure, and Sociomaterial Practice (June Ahn and Bradley Quarles); (11) Going Global: How US K-16 Education Is Shaped by "the Rest of the World" (Cynthia Miller-Idriss); and (12) The Future of Convergence (Patrick J. McGuinn and Christopher P. Loss). An index is also included.

"Minding the Gap" argues that in today's highly competitive, global economy, all young people need a postsecondary education. Yet only one in ten students from the lowest economic quintile in the United States currently earns a postsecondary credential. This timely and instructive book from Jobs for the Future explores policies and practices that would quickly enable a larger number of low-income and first-generation college students to earn postsecondary degrees. In doing so, "Minding the Gap" calls for a system that thoroughly integrates secondary and postsecondary education--a system in which a college degree is the goal for all students. This book is divided into six parts. Part I, Why Integrate Grades 9 through 14?, contains the following: (1) Confessions of an Education Fundamentalist: Why Grade 12 Is Not the Right End Point for Anyone (Anthony P. Carnevale); and (2) Doing the Math: What It Means to Double the Number of Low-Income College Graduates (Susan Goldberger). Part II, One System across 9-14: The State of the States, contains the following: (3) Common Ground (Andrea Venezia, Joni Finney, and Patrick M. Callan); (4) The History of the Separation of K-12 and Postsecondary Education (Michael W. Kirst and Michael D. Usdan); (5) A College-Ready Nation: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (Kristin D. Conklin and Stefanie Sanford); and (6) Raising Expectations for Academic Achievement (Stan Jones). Part III, Alignment and Integration of Standards, Assessments, and Curriculum across 9-14, contains the following: (7) Alignment of High School Expectations to College and Work (Christine Tell and Michael Cohen); (8) All One System: The Promise of O*Net (Anthony P. Carnevale); (9) Challenges in the Transition from High School to College (David Conley); (10) Sending Signals to Students: The Role of Early Placement Testing in Improving Academic Preparation (Bridget Terry Long and Erin K. Riley); and (11) The California Early Assessment Program: Implications for States in Developing Readiness Agendas (David Spence). Part IV, Pathways across 9-14: Practices in Place, contains the following: (12) Lessons from the Field: A Tale of Two Early College High Schools (Cecilia Cunningham and Roberta S. Matthews); (13) Another Route to College (Terry Grobe); (14) Combining Middle and High School to Improve College Success (Dan Restuccia); (15) CUNY College Now: Extending the Reach of Dual Enrollment (Tracy Meade and Eric Hofmann); (16) Academic Identity Development: Student Experiences in Two Early College High Schools (Michael J. Nakkula and Karen C. Foster); and (17) Secondary-Postsecondary Learning Opportunities: Some Promising Practices (Jennifer Brown Lerner and Betsy Brand). Part V, Pathways across 9-14: Emerging Policies, contains the following: (18) Creating Pathways for Struggling Students within a 9-14 System (Adria Steinberg and Cheryl Almeida); (19) State Policies that Support the Integration of 9-14: The Case of Early College High Schools (Joel Vargas); (20) Return on Investment Analysis of Integrating Grades 9-14 (Robert Palaich, John Augenblick, and Margaretha Maloney); (21) Using Dual Enrollment to Build a 9-14 System (Nancy Hoffman); (22) Evolution of an Innovation: A Commentary on the State of Accelerated Learning (Travis Reindl); and (23) Exploring Education Reform Systemically: The United Kingdom's Nuffield 14-19 Review (Geoff Hayward). Part VI, What Comes Next? Accountability, Data Systems, Financing, contains the following: (24) Postsecondary Numerical Goals as Catalyst for P-16 Reform: Texas Sends a Message (Michael Collins); (25) Assessing and Reporting Progress: Florida's Integrated Data Systems (Jay Pfeiffer); (26) Data Requirements for a Coherent P-16 System (Chrys Dougherty and Lynn Mellor); (27) Seamless Data Systems to Promote Student Progression (Peter T. Ewell); (28) Developing a P-20 Budget Tool: Giving Direction to Oregon Public Education (Jill Kirk, John Tapogna, and Duncan Wyse); (29) Financing Higher Aspirations and Better Preparation (Arthur M. Hauptman); and (30) Integrating Public Finance into Strategies for Improving Preparation, College Enrollment, and Persistence (Edward P. St. John). Notes, references and an index are included.

What does student-centered learning look like in real-life classrooms? In this collection, educator Bill Nave and nine award-winning K-12 teachers tell the story of how and why they changed their teaching and redesigned their classrooms in order to "reach every child." They reflect on their successes and struggles to put students in charge of their own learning and reveal strategies that make this possible. These teachers, who mostly work in schools with a high percentage of students living in poverty: prioritize relationships with students and their families; build supportive classroom cultures at the start of each year; tailor assignments to individual student interests, strengths, and challenges; create opportunities for students to choose how they will demonstrate their learning; and seek regular opportunities to connect students to learning outside the classroom. Ultimately, Nave argues, student-centered learning is not just something for special teachers or special schools. On the contrary, it is possible for all teachers--no matter what setting they teach in--to become extraordinary and for students to develop and realize their own unique personal goals. Following the introduction by Bill Nave, the contents of this book includes: (1) Kindergarten: "Preparing for a Lifetime of Learning" (Suzen Polk-Hoffses); (2) Grade Four: "Building Relationships with Whole-Heart Teaching" (Mary Graziano-Glynn); (3) Grade Four/Five Multiage: "A Journey of Transformation: Redesigning the Classroom for Students" (Shelly Moody); (4) Grade Five: "Modeling a Passion for Learning" (Susan Carpenter O'Brien); (5) Grades Six and Seven Looping: "Real-World Tasks for an Authentic Audience" (Karen MacDonald); (6) Grade Seven: "Transparency, Efficiency, and Acceleration" (Cynthia Raymond); (7) Grade Eight Special Education: "Charting the Course to Proficiency-Based Learning" (Shannon Shanning); (8) High School English and Speech: "People First, Things Second" (Alana M. Margeson); (9) Sophomore English: "Creating Meaning" (Christiane Cullens). The book ends with a conclusion entitled, "Yet", by Bill Nave. Notes and an index are included.

"The United States today is a suburban nation that thinks of race as an urban issue, and often assumes that it has been largely solved," write the editors of this groundbreaking and passionately argued book. They show that the locus of racial and ethnic transformation is now clearly suburban and illustrate patterns of demographic change in the suburbs with a series of rich case studies. The book concludes by considering what kinds of strategies school officials and community leaders can pursue at all levels to improve opportunities for suburban low-income students and students of color, and what ways address the challenges associated with demographic change. The following chapters are included: (1) Why Racial Change in the Suburbs Matters (Erica Frankenberg and Gary Orfield); (2) Understanding Suburban School District Transformation: A Typology of Suburban Districts (Erica Frankenberg); (3) Pursuing "Separate but Equal" in Suburban San Antonio: A Case Study of Southern Independent School District (Jennifer Jellison Holme, Anjalé Welton, and Sarah Diem); (4) Holding the Borderline: School District Responsiveness to Demographic Change in Orange County, California (Lorrie Frasure-Yokley); (5) Help Wanted: The Challenges and Opportunities of Immigration and Cultural Change in a Working-Class Boston Suburb (Susan Eaton); (6) Dividing Lines: East Versus West in Minneapolis Suburbs (Baris Gumus-Dawes, Myron Orfi eld, and Thomas Luce); (7) Conflicting Mandates Amid Suburban Change: Educational Opportunity in a Post-Desegregation Florida Countywide District (Kathryn Wiley, Barbara Shircliffe, and Jennifer Morley); (8) High Civic Capacity, Low Demand for Integration: Rapid Demographic Transition in Suburban Atlanta (Elizabeth DeBray and Ain Grooms); (9) "The Oak Park Way" Isn't Enough: Lasting Diversity Achieved, School Challenges Remaining in Suburban Chicago (Gary Orfield); and (10) Conclusion: Going Forward (Gary Orfield). The following are included at the end of the book: Notes; Acknowledgments; About the Editors; About the Contributors; and Index.

How can low-income, non-English-speaking parents become advocates, leaders, and role models in their children's schools? "A Cord of Three Strands" offers a close study of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association, a grassroots organization on the northwest side of Chicago, whose work on parent engagement has drawn national attention. The author identifies three elements--induction, integration, and investment--that together capture the dynamic and developmental nature of successful parent engagement. Writing with both optimism and urgency, author Soo Hong offers richly detailed portraits of parents' experiences and addresses the complex and sometime conflicting relationships among school, family, and community. [Foreword by Jean Anyon.]

For nearly two decades, education entrepreneurs have been working to transform the K-12 public education system in the United States. "Social entrepreneurship" has become part of the language of a new generation of idealists, many of whom are focused on education. The nineteen cases in this book profile entrepreneurs who are pursuing opportunities to create pattern-breaking social change in our public schools--in particular, by creating high-quality educational opportunities for low-income and minority students who are dramatically underserved by the current public education system. Based on a popular course developed and taught at the Harvard Business School, this casebook is organized into four modules: (1) Understanding the Context of Urban Schooling in the United States; (2) Tackling the "People Problem"; (3) Focusing on Performance; and (4) Launching and Growing New Schools. Students are invited to explore four overarching questions: Why are there opportunities for entrepreneurs in a sector that is funded with public dollars and delivered by public agencies? Why is entrepreneurial activity aggregating around certain opportunities? What are the possibilities and constraints faced by entrepreneurs in each opportunity area? How can we evaluate the impact of these entrepreneurs' efforts?

"Inside Urban Charter Schools" offers an unprecedentedly intimate glimpse into the world of charter schools by profiling five high-performing urban charter schools serving predominantly low-income, minority youth in Massachusetts. Interviews, focus groups, and classroom observations conducted over the course of two years flesh out rich and colorful portraits of daily life in these schools. Using an analytic framework grounded in research on nonprofit management and effective schools, the authors show that these schools excel along the organizational dimensions of structure, systems, human resource strategies, culture, and clarity of mission. By raising provocative questions for parents, educators, policymakers, and scholars, the book makes a powerful contribution to important conversations about the purpose of K-12 schooling in the twenty-first century and what it will take to enable all schools--whether charter or traditional--to successfully educate all students. The following chapters are included in this book: (1) Community Day Charter Public School: Intimacy in a Data-Driven School; (2) Roxbury Preparatory Charter School: Planning and Executing for Achievement; (3) Boston Collegiate Charter School: Bringing College to Students and Students to College; (4) The Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School: Paving the Way to Adulthood; (5) The MATCH Charter Public High School: Culture, Consistency, and Coherence; (6) Building a Foundation for Cross-School Themes: What Effective Schools and High-Performing Nonprofits Have to Say; (7) Culture, Missions,and Theories of Action; (8) The Right People; (9) Structures and Systems: Getting Organized for Instruction; (10) Classroom Instruction and Student Outcomes; and (11) Stepping Back and Looking Forward. An index is included. References are also included. [Foreword by S. Paul Reville. This book was written with Kristy Cooper, John Roberts, Mara Casey Tieken, Jon Valant, and Chris Wynne.]

In the current rush to adopt and expand digital learning, many important considerations are being overlooked that will have major consequences for the future of American public education. As private education technology contractors and vendors move deeper into the work of public education, questions concerning the quality of the services, who is served, and who benefits need to be answered. Based on participatory research and other studies of three types of digital education--digital courses, blended learning, and online tutoring--"Equal Scrutiny" offers readers an inside view of what is really going on in the world of digital education and the uneven experiences of students, their parents, and teachers. The authors also offer critical questions that need to be asked in order to--in the authors' words--"ensure that technology adds value to the learning and lives of students and staff in public school communities."

A "Qualified Teacher in Every Classroom?" lays out new approaches for ensuring high-quality teacher preparation while offering a candid assessment of the obstacles that may impede the implementation of such new models. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, states will have to ensure that every public school classroom is staffed by a highly qualified teacher. This mandate--and the fact that many children, especially low-income and minority students, are taught by underqualified teachers ill-equipped for the challenges ahead--gives new urgency to debates over teacher recruitment, preparation, and induction. For several years, these debates have been dominated by competing groups of partisans. One denies that teaching requires a professional base of knowledge and skill, while the other tries to promote professionalism by ensuring that traditional programs retain their control over licensure and formal certification. The conflict confuses policymakers, frustrates educators, and stifles potentially promising solutions. In this volume, eleven contributors with rich experience in policy and teaching take a fresh look at a number of issues, including: (1) Current systems for preparing and licensing teachers, and how they affect the quality and supply of teachers in the work force; (2) An array of reform models for teacher preparation and licensure, and what they would mean for the profession; (3) Questions of rigor and ideology in the core curricula of education schools or programs; and (4) The federal role in teacher preparation and licensure, especially in light of NCLB.

This instructor's guide is intended for use with "Transforming Public Education: Cases in Education Entrepreneurship." This volume includes a teaching note for each case in the student edition; the note provides basic guidance in how to initaite and organize the flow of the case discussion as well as how the case links to others before and after it. [See: "Transforming Public Education: Cases in Education Entrepreneurship" at ED515305.]

This volume sheds light on contemporary theoretical work and research, on a range of national and international polices, and on education reform in developing countries. International Education has become an increasingly prominent and urgent matter in recent decades. Since the 1990 and 2000 Education for All conferences in Thailand, and Senegal, educational access and quality have been important parts of a global development agenda. More recently, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals have called for dramatic increases in educational access and ensuring equity for those disadvantaged by national and regional power structures. "International Education for the Millennium" offers a detailed and comprehensive look at this vitally important field. Centrally concerned with the development of successful education systems and institutions throughout the world, the volume addresses those pressing questions-about access, equity, and quality-that inform the field today. The volume sheds light on important areas within this vast field: on contemporary theoretical work and research; on a range of national and international policies; and on education reform in developing countries. A volume that considers international education on the global, national, and local levels-and that addresses theoretical, scholarly, and practical matters- "International Education for the Millennium" offers an array of ideas, perspectives, and resources for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. Following a foreword by Marlaine E. Lockheed, and an introduction by the editors, this volume is divided into three parts. Part One: "Frameworks and Theoretical Perspectives on International Education" contains: (1) Comparative and International Education: A Journey toward Equality and Equity (Nelly P. Stromquist); (2) The Adult Literacy Process as Cultural Action for Freedom (Paulo Freire); (3) Cultural Action and Conscientization (Paulo Freire); and (4) No Longer Overlooked and Undervalued? The Evolving Dynamics of Endogenous Educational Research in Sub-Saharan Africa (Richard Maclure). Part Two: "Transitions and Reform in International Education" continues with: (5) Education in Tanzania (Julius K. Nyerere); (6) Adjusting Inequality: Education and Structural Adjustment Policies in Tanzania (Frances Vavrus); (7) Women and Education in Eritrea: A Historical and Contemporary Analysis (Asgedet Stefanos); (8) Black Dean: Race, Reconciliation, and the Emotions of Deanship (Jonathan David Jansen); and (9) Teaching Quality Matters: Pedagogy and Literacy Instruction of Poor Students in Mexico (Fernando Reimers). Part Three: "Community Solutions for Educational Change," includes the following: (10) The Palestinian Uprising and Education for the Future (Khalil Mahshi and Kim Bush); (11) Interview with Khalil Mahshi; (12) Transference and Appropriation in Popular Education Interventions: A Framework for Analysis (Liliana Vaccaro); (13) Why Romà Do Not Like Mainstream Schools: Voices of a People without Territory (Julio Vargas Clavería and Jesús Gómez Alonso); (14) Education in the Fight against HIV/AIDS: Caring for Ourselves, Our Families, and Our Community in Kampala, Uganda (Joanita Nambi, Stella Alamo Talisuna, Margrethe Juncker, and the Volunteers of Reach Out). The book ends with an epilogue: On Teaching for Social Change: Creating a Bridge between Academia and Practice (Suzanne Grant Lewis).

"Early Colleges as a Model for Schooling" advocates for early college high schools as an effective means of reducing academic, cultural, and financial obstacles to postsecondary education. This perceptive work evaluates, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the impacts of early colleges--hybrids that blend elements of secondary and postsecondary education. It examines the strengths and challenges of early college models of different designs and explores their place in the greater education system. Julie A. Edmunds, Fatih Unlu, Elizabeth J. Glennie, and Nina Arshavsky craft their narrative around the findings of one of the most ambitious studies to date on early college high schools, a fifteen-year longitudinal study involving more than four thousand students across nineteen secondary schools that have adopted the model. They offer insight into the student experience within early college high schools and beyond. The authors demonstrate how the well-structured and supportive educational environment of early college not only prepares students academically for college-level coursework but also helps students navigate logistical challenges in applying for colleges and universities. They show how the positive outcomes of the early college experience can help tip the balance toward successful postsecondary educational experiences, especially for historically underserved students such as low-income students, minority students, and first-generation college students. As the authors point out, a shift in the way the transition between secondary and postsecondary education is implemented provides an achievable approach to improving college readiness and lowering educational barriers. They argue persuasively that wider adoption of this educational model in high schools has great potential to improve overall access to higher education.

"STEM Education Reform in Urban High Schools" gives a nuanced view of the obstacles marginalized students face in STEM education--and explores how schools can better support STEM learners. Reporting the results of a nine-year ethnographic study, the book chronicles the outcomes of various STEM education reforms in eight public high schools with nonselective admissions policies and high proportions of low-income and minoritized students: four schools in Denver, Colorado, and four in Buffalo, New York. Margaret A. Eisenhart and Lois Weis follow the educational experiences of high-ability students from each school, tracking the students' high school-to-college-to-career trajectories. Through interviews with students, educators, and parents, as well as classroom and campus observations, the authors identify patterns in the educational paths of students who go on to great success in STEM occupations and those who do not. They discuss common mechanisms that undermine the stated goals of STEM programming--opportunity structures that are inequitable, erosion of program quality, and diversion of resources--as well as social and cultural constructs (the figured worlds of STEM) that exclude many minoritized students with potential for success from the STEM pipeline. On a broader scope, the book explores how and why STEM education reform efforts fail and succeed. With an eye toward greater access to STEM learning, the authors show how lessons of past measures can inform future STEM initiatives.

"What Are Preschoolers Thinking?" dispels common misconceptions about the cognitive abilities of preschoolers and demonstrates how effective early instruction can help eradicate achievement gaps. More Judith A. Schickedanz, Molly F. Collins, and Catherine Marchant, educators and researchers with combined decades of experience in early childhood education, argue that preschool-aged children are more cognitively competent than they are often given credit for. Drawing upon real-life examples from their extensive research and experience, the authors identify more than 20 misunderstandings that our youngest students commonly develop. They then show how these errors of thought reveal preschoolers' means of knowledge acquisition and patterns of thinking. Better understanding of how our youngest students' minds work, the authors assert, leads to better instruction. They make the case that achievement gaps are caused not by differences in cognitive capacity but by knowledge gaps between students with demographic differences, such as those between students from low-income and high-income families. The authors demonstrate that well-designed, developmentally appropriate preschool activities not only instill beginning literacy and basic numeracy skills for all students but can also set the foundations for greater knowledge content and afford opportunities for higher-level thinking. This broader and deeper approach to early learning is crucial to sustaining later elementary progress. "What Are Preschoolers Thinking?" enables readers to fully understand PreK students so they may help nurture their cognitive potential. This enlightening book confirms that preschool matters.

"Civil Rights and Federal Higher Education" offers a renewed vision for higher education policy making, presenting an incisive analysis of the connections between educational politics and educational inequality. With a view toward the future, the editors assert that the thoughtful application of evidence-based solutions to complex policy problems can help establish a more just and equitable system of higher education. Edited by Nicholas Hillman and Gary Orfield, the volume focuses on federal policy debates that have significant racial and socioeconomic implications, linking civil rights reforms to contemporary higher education policy issues. Through a mix of history and current events, the chapters highlight how policy has strayed from the Higher Education Act's intended trajectory of promoting and protecting civil rights. This drift, the editors show, has created far-reaching consequences for students of color, low-income students, and incarcerated students, in addition to the colleges that serve them. Deftly identifying the social justice dimensions of today's federal policies, the editors reveal how certain political influences have preserved the interests of powerful and historically advantaged stakeholders--often at the expense of those who are less powerful and most disadvantaged. With great insight, the book's contributors explore higher education issues such as enrollment at Minority Serving Institutions, for-profit college outcomes, and legal and academic perspectives on affirmative action. Perhaps more importantly, "Civil Rights and Federal Higher Education" provides guidance on what can be done to course correct. The book offers short- and long-term policy prescriptions and policy alternatives to help legislative staffers, policy analysts, and researchers plot a way forward.

"You Can't Be What You Can't See" presents a rare longitudinal account of the benefits of a high-quality, out-of-school program on the life trajectories of hundreds of poor, African American youth who grew up in Chicago's notorious Cabrini-Green housing project in the 1980s and early '90s. The result of a five-year research project by Stanford scholar Milbrey W. McLaughlin, the book documents what happened to more than 700 Cabrini-Green youth two decades after they attended the Community Youth Creative Learning Experience (CYCLE), a comprehensive after-school program offering tutoring, enrichment, scholarships, summer camps, and more. Through data collection, and in-depth interviews with participants and staff, she finds that almost all had graduated high school and escaped poverty, and so had their children. McLaughlin describes the design principles as well as the core features of the program that participants say were key to their success: mentoring, exposure to activities and resources beyond their neighborhood, and a culture of belonging in which staff committed to "never give up on a kid." The recollections and accomplishments of CYCLE alums, McLaughlin argues, challenge current assumptions about the enduring effects of poverty and highlight the power of opportunity "to imagine and take a different path." "You Can't Be What You Can't See" offers lessons for policy makers, educators, community activists, funders, and others interested in learning what makes a youth organization effective for low-income, marginalized children. [Foreword by Arne Duncan and Afterword by Greg Darnieder.]

In "Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education," leading scholars address the unforeseen impact of accountability standards on students of color and the institutions that disproportionately serve them. The book describes how federal policies can worsen existing racial inequalities in higher education and offers alternative solutions aimed to protect and advance civil rights for low-income and minority students and their colleges. This volume begins with a chapter putting higher education accountability in historical perspective and connecting it to the increasing importance of postsecondary education for upward mobility, coupled with rising barriers to minority student access and success. Based on a series of studies using cutting-edge research methodologies, the contributors suggest new ways to design and evaluate accountability policies that avoid predictable negative consequences. Written against a backdrop of unequal opportunity and racial inequality in preparation for and access to higher education, "Accountability and Opportunity in Higher Education" arrives at a pivotal time in American education. Following the introduction, The Access Crisis and the Move Toward Accountability (Gary Orfield), this book contains the following chapters: (1) Obama's Accountability Efforts: A Case Study in Frustration (Gary Orfield); (2) State Accountability Policies: Can Performance Funding Be Equitable? (Nicholas Hillman and Valerie Crespín-Trujillo); (3) Accountability and the Key Role of Minority-Serving Institutions (Marybeth Gasman, Thai-Huy Nguyen, Andrés Castro Samayoa, and Daniel Corral); (4) Using Institutional Accountability Measures That Serve Diverse Populations (Sylvia Hurtado, Adriana Ruiz Alvarado, and Kevin Eagan); (5) Accountability Across the Education Pipeline: The Contribution of Unequal High Schools on College Completion (Stella M. Flores, Toby J. Park, and Dominique J. Baker); (6) Making Accountability Fair for Hispanic-Serving Institutions (Anne-Marie Núñez and Awilda Rodríguez); (7) High-Stakes Accountability in the Context of Education Deserts (Nicholas Hillman); (8) The Impact of Financial Aid Limits: A View from a Leading HBCU (Willie Kirkland); (9) Student Debt Accountability and Its Unintended Racial Consequences (Sara Goldrick-Rab and Jason Houle); and Conclusion: Accountability and Racial Fairness to Advance Civil Rights--A Way Forward (Nicholas Hillman). Contains notes, a section about the editors and contributors, and an index.

For many students, making their way to higher education requires more than hard work and determination. Low-income minority students who overcome obstacles to achieve academic success have usually encountered at least one college-educated adult in their schooling who took the initiative to reach out to them and provide concrete academic guidance. In this book, sociologist Roberta Espinoza introduces the idea of "pivotal moments"--interventions that point the way toward college, particularly for students from working-class or ethnic minority backgrounds. These pivotal encounters and the relationships that spring from them can help students accumulate procedural knowledge about attending college (cultural capital) and interpersonal support (social capital). "Pivotal Moments" introduces a diverse group of students whose experiences highlight how teachers, counselors, academic outreach professionals, and professors can help students circumvent the barriers they encounter in attaining school success. It shows how the timing, duration, and impact of pivotal moments can redirect students' educational trajectories. The book also translates the theory of pivotal moments into concrete practices that educators at all levels can use to intervene more effectively in the lives of working-class minority students. [Foreword by Kathleen Cushman.]

With an annual yearly growth rate of 9.3 percent over the last two decades, Advanced Placement courses have become a juggernaut in American high school education. AP courses are routinely perceived as an indicator of educational rigor, and many schools push to enroll low-income or minority students in these courses in the hope of preparing them for success in college-level courses. This rapid expansion of AP courses raises important questions. What are the advantages and disadvantages of courses geared toward the AP exams? How well do AP courses prepare students for college-level work or predict students' success in college? Should colleges award credit for AP courses? Is the AP program a cost-effective tool for closing the gap between students in privileged and struggling communities? This volume draws together the most recent and rigorous research on the strengths and weaknesses of the Advanced Placement program. It examines closely the differences between AP and other high school courses, as well as variations among AP courses. In-depth studies gauge the impact of AP coursework on student performance in college. Finally, researchers examine the use of AP information in college admissions. Taken together, these studies present a comprehensive picture of the history, impact, and future of the Advanced Placement program. This book is divided into four parts. Part I, An Introduction and Overview, includes the following chapters: (1) Advanced Placement in a Changing Educational Landscape (Philip M. Sadler); and (2) Examining AP: Access, Rigor, and Revenue in the History of the Advanced Placement Program. Part II, Inside AP, includes the following chapters: (3) How Are AP Courses Different? (Philip M. Sadler); (4) AP Biology Teacher Characteristics and Practices and Their Relationship to Student AP Exam Performance (Pamela L. Paek, Henry Braun, Eva Ponte, Catherine Trapani, and Donald E. Powers); and (5) Validating AP Exam Scores: Current Research and New Directions (Maureen Ewing, Kristen Huff, and Pamela Kaliski). Part III, Correlates of AP Participation, includes the following chapters: (6) Advanced Placement Course Enrollment and Long-Range Educational Outcomes (Robert H. Tai, Christine Qi Liu, John T. Almarode, and Xitao Fan); (7) High School Advanced Placement and Success in College Coursework in the Sciences (Philip M. Sadler and Gerhard Sonnert); and (8) Persistence and Performance at a Four-Year University: The Relationship with Advanced Coursework During High School (William R. Duffy II). Finally, Part IV, Policy Issues, includes the following chapters: (9) Advanced Placement Participation: Evaluating the Policies of States and Colleges (Kristin Klopfenstein and M. Kathleen Thomas); (10) Does the Advanced Placement Program Save Taxpayers Money? The Effect of AP Participation on Time to College Graduation (Kristin Klopfenstein); (11) Preparing Students for Advanced Placement: It's a PreK-12 Issue (Chrys Dougherty and Lynn T. Mellor); (12) Whither Advanced Placement--Now? (William Lichten); (13) Advanced High School Coursework and College Admission Decisions (Philip M. Sadler); and (14) Key Findings (Philip M. Sadler).

In "City Schools," Robert Rothman and his colleagues at the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University put forward a vision of "smart education systems" that link a highly functioning and effective school district with a comprehensive and accessible web of supports for children, youth, and families. One-third of the nation's children are educated in city schools. Many of these schools face tremendous challenges--rapid teacher turnover, poor academic performance, high concentrations of low-income children, children with disabilities, and English language learners. How can they engage the talents, resources, and support of other community institutions to serve students more effectively? The book describes ways that urban districts around the country are becoming "smarter" and outlines the components of a smart education system. Drawing from dozens of examples, the authors show how districts can build relationships with cultural institutions, businesses, government agencies, and nonprofits to support student achievement and offer multiple pathways to education for urban youth. The book opens with Acknowledgments and an Introduction. Twelve chapters with respective authors are divided over five parts as follows. Part 1: Urban Education: The Challenge and the Promise, contains: Chapter 1: The Real Achievement Gap (Robert Rothman); and Chapter 2: City Kids, City Families: City Commitments (Dennie Palmer Wolf and Heather A. Harding). Part 2: Districts and Schools in Smart Education Systems, continues with: Chapter 3: Smart Districts as the Entry Point to Smart Education Systems (Marla Ucelli, Ellen Foley, and Jacob Mishook); Chapter 4: Teaching and Learning in Urban Districts (Deanna Burney and Kenneth Klau); and Chapter 5: Expanding the Possibilities: The Diverse-Provider Model in Urban Districts (Kenneth K. Wong and David Wishnick). Part 3: Communities in Smart Education Systems, continues with: Chapter 6: The Role of Community Engagement in a Smart Education System (Richard Gray and Lamson Lam); Chapter 7: Leveraging Reform: Youth Power in a Smart Education System (Kavitha Mediratta, Amy Cohen, and Seema Shah); Chapter 8: Civic Capacity and Education Reform: The Case for School-Community Realignment (Jeffrey R. Henig and Clarence N. Stone); and Chapter 9: What Mayors Can Do to Help Build Smart Education Systems (Michael K. Grady and Audrey Hutchinson). Part 4: Getting Smarter: Two Case Studies, contains: Chapter 10: Creating a Smart District in Hamilton County (Jesse B. Register); and Chapter 11: "We Are Each Other's Business": The Place of Partnership in Smart Education Systems (Dennie Palmer Wolf and Jennifer Bransom). Part 5: A Vision for the Future, contains, Chapter 12: From Smart Districts to Smart Education Systems: A Broader Agenda for Educational Development (Warren Simmons). Also included are Notes, a section about the authors, and an Index.