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Publications

Brief

Preparing High School Students for Successful Transitions to Postsecondary Education and Employment

August, 2008

This issue brief, published by the National High School Center, highlights lessons from selected policies and programs designed to improve students’ preparation for life after high school.

Brief

Striking the Balance

Career Academies Combine Academic Rigor and Workplace Relevance

August, 2008

This “snapshot,” published by the National High School Center, takes a close look at implementation of the Career Academy model in one high school in Oakland, California.

Brief

Evaluating the Impact of Interventions That Promote Successful Transitions from High School

August, 2008

This research brief, published by the National High School Center, examines the challenges and opportunities presented in evaluating whether an intervention achieves defined goals of increasing students’ educational attainment, employment, and earnings after high school.

Report

Career Academies: Long-Term Impacts on Work, Education, and Transitions to Adulthood

June, 2008

Eight-year findings on Career Academies — a popular high school reform that combines academics with career development opportunities — show that the programs produced sustained employment and earnings gains, particularly among young men. Career Academy participants were also more likely to be living independently with children and a spouse or a partner.

Brief

State- and District-Level Support for Successful Transitions into High School

May, 2007

This policy brief, published by the National High School Center, focuses on five key challenges that states, districts, and schools should address to support a successful transition into high school.

Brief

Toward Ensuring a Successful Transition into High School

May, 2007

This issue brief, published by the National High School Center, suggests that transitions into high school can be eased when both structural and specialized curricula reforms are in place.

Brief

Managing the Transition to High School in a Comprehensive Urban High School

May, 2007

This “snapshot,” published by the National High School Center, explains how Thomas A. Edison High School in Philadelphia implemented a Ninth-Grade Success Academy.

Issue Focus

Sustaining Change in High School Reform

January, 2007

MDRC’s research on Career Academies, First Things First, Project GRAD, and Talent Development suggests that the twin pillars of high school reform are structural changes to improve personalization and instructional improvement.

Report

The Challenge of Scaling Up Educational Reform

Findings and Lessons from First Things First

July, 2005

First Things First, a comprehensive school reform initiative, increased student achievement in Kansas City, Kansas, the first school district to adopt the reform model. It is not yet clear if First Things First is working in four other school districts in which it has been replicated.