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Report/Research

Creating Strong Transitions From High School Through College: A Progress Report on Redesigning Senior Year

How can educators prepare more high school seniors to enter college and thrive during the first critical year? We highlight three success stories from JFF’s work guiding school district community college partnerships.

May 30, 2018

At a Glance

How can educators prepare more high school seniors to enter college and thrive during the first critical year? We highlight three success stories from JFF’s work guiding school district community college partnerships.

Contributors
Joel Vargas Vice President
Krista Sabados
Topics

Too many young people who start college falter and never finish. This happens frequently in their first year. It is common among students who attend broad-access public institutions, typically two- and four-year colleges in their regions. This large group includes many students from low-income backgrounds, who often are the first person in their families to pursue higher education, and many who are required to take remedial courses before entering credit-bearing, college-level courses. 

The fault lies not with students but with the failure of our K-12 and postsecondary systems of education to build better bridges between the two sectors. At high school graduation, students exit a compulsory secondary education where completion is a primary aim. They are left on their own to choose whether to continue in a voluntary postsecondary system, where student success based on one’s ability to “sink or swim” has traditionally been viewed as normal. State K-12 curriculum, standards, and accountability rules have been increasingly designed to better prepare high school graduates for college and career readiness, and more colleges are trying strategies to support incoming student success. But the structure of our education systems still presumes that the job of high schools ends upon the completion of 12th grade and that the job of colleges starts when students enroll.

See More Reports in This Series

Report/Research

Rethinking 12th Grade: Preparing All Students for College Before College

Rethinking 12th Grade: Preparing All Students for College Before College This brief discusses the issues and solutions around ensuring all 12th graders are college and career ready, as well as state and federal policy recommendations…

May 30, 2018
Report/Research

Why 12th Grade Must Be Redesigned Now—And How

Why 12th Grade Must Be Redesigned Now—And How How can we prepare many more young people, especially those from underserved communities, to succeed in college and careers? This first paper in a series explores why…

May 30, 2018
Report/Research

Beyond Academic Readiness: Building a Broader Range of Skills for Success in College

Beyond Academic Readiness: Building a Broader Range of Skills for Success in College Continuing the series on rethinking the 12th grade, this paper explores non-academic skills that demonstrate college readiness, including time management, goal setting,…

May 30, 2018
Report/Research

How High Schools and Colleges Can Team Up to Use Data and Increase Student Success

How High Schools and Colleges Can Team Up to Use Data and Increase Student Success Ready or Not: It’s Time to Rethink the 12th Grade High schools and colleges could help many more young people…

June 18, 2018
Report/Research

Building Student Momentum from High School into College

Building Student Momentum from High School into College Elisabeth Barnett of the Community College Research Center proposes research-based markers and milestones of student momentum from 12th grade through the first year of college.    …

May 30, 2018
Report/Research

Co-Design, Co-Delivery, and Co-Validation

Co-Design, Co-Delivery, and Co-Validation This paper, part of a series on rethinking 12th grade, explores how collaboration between high school and colleges is key to ensuring postsecondary success for students.   See More Reports in…

May 30, 2018

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