A Failed [yet successful narrative] Review of D. Jean Clandinin\u27s Engaging in Narrative Inquiry

What happens when an overwhelmed, yet hungry for qualitative immersion, well-intentioned person [me] attempts to review a very thoughtful and well-done book on narrative inquiry [Clandinin, 2013]? Evidently an autobiographical narrative inquiry takes place. Well let me tell you the story...you\u27ll laugh, you\u27ll cry...I did anyway

Boosting College Success Among Men of Color

This brief catalogues strategies commonly used in interventions at postsecondary educational institutions aimed at improving outcomes for male students of color and charts the way forward for future evaluative work. While young men of color have college and career aspirations similar to those of their white counterparts, a significant gap persists between the two groups' postsecondary educational attainment. In response, colleges around the country have implemented targeted programs offering male students of color a variety of support services, yet few of these initiatives have been evaluated. MDRC has conducted a scan of 82 such programs and will apply lessons from it and other research to a large-scale evaluation of program efficacy that it is currently developing in collaboration with the University System of Georgia. The need for evidence-based approaches that support men of color throughout the educational pipeline is evident, especially at the postsecondary level, where so many male students of color are close to reaching their goals and fulfilling their potential as college graduates

Reengaging High School Dropouts: Early Results of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program Evaluation

Very early results from a random assignment evaluation of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, an intensive, "quasi-military" residential program for high school dropouts, show that the program has large impacts on high school diploma and GED attainment and positive effects on working, college-going, health, self-efficacy, and avoiding arrest

Preparing High School Students for College: An Exploratory Study of College Readiness Partnership Programs in Texas

Nationwide, about 40 percent of college students take at least one remedial course to prepare for college-level coursework (Attewell, Lavin, Domina, and Levey, 2006). One cause of this high rate of remedial enrollment is the misalignment of high school graduation standards and college academic expectations (Callan, Finney, Kirst, Usdan, and Venezia, 2006; Venezia, Kirst, and Antonio, 2003). College readiness partnership programs attempt to address this problem by facilitating students’ transition to college. The current study examines 37 state and local college readiness partnership programs in Texas as well as the partnerships that created these programs. The findings are based on a review of the relevant research and Texas policy literature, analysis of an online scan of college readiness partnership programs in Texas with a web presence, and site visits to high schools, colleges, and community-based organizations in the Houston and Dallas–Fort Worth areas. We define college readiness partnership programs as programmatic interventions co-sponsored by secondary and postsecondary institutions and offered to high school students with the goal of increasing students’ college readiness