One common approach to helping students who have been assessed as needing developmental education is corequisite remediation, where students enroll directly in college-level courses while receiving concurrent and aligned developmental educational support. There are numerous corequisite education models (for example, paired courses or tutoring), each designed to support students in passing college-level courses while avoiding the delays associated with prerequisite developmental courses. This brief from MDRC describes lessons from the emerging research examining the effects of corequisite education.

This paper from the CALDER Center examines how different measures of teacher quality are related to students’ long-run trajectories. Comparing teachers’ test-based value-added to nontest value-added – based on contributions to student absences and grades – they find that test and nontest value-added have similar effects on the average quality of colleges that students attend. However, test-based teacher quality measures have more explanatory power for outcomes relevant for students at the top of the achievement distribution such as attending a more selective college, while nontest measures have more explanatory power for whether students graduate from high school and enroll in college at all.

In 2022, Ascendium will launch an open Request for Proposals (RFP) aimed at addressing gaps in evidence for strategies that support rural learners from low-income backgrounds in earning degrees and credentials with labor market value. Through this RFP, Ascendium has committed funding for 8-10 projects, employing a diverse mix of research methods and subjects, that respond to one or more overarching research question themes. To optimize the design, implementation, and cross-project learning potential of this initiative, Ascendium awarded a grant to AIR to serve as an intermediary partner to support RFP design, grant management, and synthesis of insights across the funded multi-faceted research efforts.

AIR, in collaboration with 2M Research and Education Strategies Group, is designing and executing the National Evaluation of Career and Technical Education Under Perkins V. The evaluation will assess the implementation of CTE under the new law, how CTE participation and outcomes are evolving over time,  and the effectiveness of CTE strategies permitted under Perkins V in improving key student outcomes. The evaluation will satisfy a legislative mandate in Perkins V and will give Congress and other policymakers a comprehensive assessment of CTE under the new law.

Researchers at the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, operated by AIR, conducted a study to investigate (a) the percentage of Round Rock Independent School District (ISD) graduates from 2012/13 through 2017/18 who completed one or more career and technical education (CTE) programs of study; (b) the percentage of Round Rock ISD CTE programs of study aligned with high-wage, in-demand career pathways in Central Texas; (c) the percentage of Round Rock ISD graduates completing programs of study aligned to those high-wage, in-demand career pathways; and (d) postsecondary outcomes of Round Rock ISD graduates who completed a program of study.

Researchers at the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, operated by AIR, conducted a study to examine Algebra II completion and failure rates in Texas for high school students. This period spans (a) the point at which Texas began implementing the 4x4 curriculum that required four courses each in English, math (including Algebra II), science, and social studies, and (b) when the state moved to the new Foundation High School Program—which eliminates Algebra II as a math requirement—with the 2014/15 cohort.

Researchers at the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, operated by AIR, conducted a study examining the impact of providing parents with an informational brochure about the role of Algebra II in college access on students’ grade 11 Algebra II completion rates in Texas. One hundred nine schools, covering all 20 Educational Service Center regions in Texas, participated in the study.

Researchers at the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, operated by AIR, in collaboration with the New Mexico Public Education Department, conducted a study to examine outcomes for several cohorts of students in New Mexico required to meet increased math and science course requirements and to take a new graduation exam. The aims of the study were to examine student outcomes among four years of cohorts before and after the changes in high school graduation requirements were implemented.

Researchers at the Regional Educational Laboratory Southwest, operated by AIR, in collaboration with the Texas Hispanic STEM Research Alliance, conducted a study to identify associations between predictive indicators and postsecondary science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) success among Hispanic students in Texas. The goals of the study were to identify factors that predict positive STEM-related postsecondary outcomes for students in Texas and to determine whether the association between predictive factors and outcomes differs between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White students.

The Center for Applied Research in Postsecondary Education (CARPE) at the American Institutes for Research held a webinar focused on the use of behavioral science ‘nudges’ in postsecondary settings. The webinar featured presentations by Professor Eric Bettinger of Stanford University, Principal Researcher Christina LiCalsi of AIR, and Associate Professor Lindsay Page of the University of Pittsburgh about the opportunity to leverage text messaging interventions and other virtual ‘nudges’ to increase college enrollment, persistence, and attainment.