North Carolina K-12 School-Based Learn and Serve America Program

General Goal: To engage school-age youth in service-learning activities to help address the educational, public safety, human and environmental needs of North Carolin

Rethinking Admissions and Enrollment: How Colleges are Adapting to the Shrinking of Higher Ed

Colleges were plenty worried about an enrollment crash even before the pandemic hit. Undergraduate enrollment has since fallen, with community colleges taking the biggest hit. Themuch-discussed “enrollment cliff” still liesahead, with the number of high-school graduates projected to decline sharply after 2025. On top of that, the future pool islikely to include more low-income and first-generation students, who need broader types of support. All of that has led colleges to look for creative ways to boost enrollment and retention. They’re sharpening their identities, casting a wider net for prospective applicants, and improving the student experience. This collection features many of The Chronicle’s best reads on a topic that’s on everyone’s mind. (From Introduction of Rethinking Admission and Enrollment p.3

High School Exit Examinations: When Do Learning Effects Generalize?

This paper reviews international and domestic evidence on the effects of three types of high school exit exam systems: voluntary curriculum-based external exit exams, universal curriculum-based external exit exam systems and minimum competency tests that must be passed to receive a regular high school diploma. The nations and provinces that use Universal CBEEES (and typically teacher grades as well) to signal student achievement have significantly higher achievement levels and smaller differentials by family background than otherwise comparable jurisdictions that base high stakes decisions on voluntary college admissions tests and/or teacher grades. The introduction of Universal CBEEES in New York and North Carolina during the 1990s was associated with large increases in math achievement on NAEP tests. Research on MCTs and high school accountability tests is less conclusive because these systems are new and have only been implemented in one country. Cross-section studies using a comprehensive set of controls for family background have not found that students in MCT states score higher on audit tests like the NAEP that carry no stakes for the test taker. The analysis reported in table 1 tells us that the five states that introduced MCTs during the 1990s had significantly larger improvements on NAEP tests than states that made no change in their student accountability regime. The gains, however, are smaller than for the states introducing Universal CBEEES. New York and North Carolina. The most positive finding about MCTs is that students in MCT states earn significantly more during the first eight years after graduation than comparable students in other states suggesting that MCTs improve employer perceptions of the quality of the recent graduates of local high schools

Low-Cost Pedestrian Safety Zones: Countermeasure Selection Resource

Contract DTNH2216D00017/TaskOrder 693JJ919F000174This project consists of two reports, this one and Low-Cost Pedestrian Safety Zones: Countermeasure Selection Resource. They were developed for State Highway Safety Offices and transportation professionals seeking to support and implement low-cost, quick countermeasures to address pedestrian safety. The handbook describes the process of developing and using low-cost pedestrian safety zones. The resource report details low-cost countermeasures as part of pedestrian safety zone efforts. Pedestrian safety zones target a specifically identified area using a complex combination of countermeasures, typically education, enforcement, and engineering. When done correctly, significant improvements are made

Low-Cost Pedestrian Safety Zones: An Eight-Step Handbook

Contract DTNH2216D00017/TaskOrder 693JJ919F000174This project consists of two reports, this one and Low-Cost Pedestrian Safety Zones: Countermeasure Selection Resource. They were developed for State Highway Safety Offices and transportation professionals seeking to support and implement low-cost, quick countermeasures to address pedestrian safety. The handbook describes the process of developing and using low-cost pedestrian safety zones. The resource report details low-cost countermeasures as part of pedestrian safety zone efforts. Pedestrian safety zones target a specifically identified area using a complex combination of countermeasures, typically education, enforcement, and engineering. When done correctly, significant improvements are made

Evaluation of the Monroe Expressway Wrong Way Vehicle Detection Program

NCDOT RP 2019-25In North Carolina, wrong way driving (WWD) crashes are one of the most severe traffic crashes that often result in a fatality or serious injury since they involve head-on or opposite direction sideswipe crashes at high speeds. To minimize the occurrence of WWD crashes, the North Carolina Turnpike Authority (NCTA), which is a unit of the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), deployed a wrong way vehicle detection system along the Monroe Expressway in 2018. The system can automatically detect wrong way vehicles at mainline stations and inform traffic management center operators. This project evaluated the effectiveness of wrong-way traffic control devices installed at the ramp and mainline locations along the Monroe Expressway. A comprehensive literature search was conducted to summarize the state-of-the-practice of WWD crash modeling, detection, and prevention. Real-world traffic data including traffic volume, traffic control devices present, geometry and configuration of interchanges were employed for identifying the relationship between the frequencies of wrong way incidents and facility characteristics. During the study period of approximately 1.5 years of data collection, there were 13 actual WWD events, of which five wrong way movements originated from the roundabout parclo interchanges on the Monroe Expressway. In addition, this project collected statewide data on partial cloverleaf interchanges to assess the risk for wrong way movements. It was found that the partial cloverleaf interchange configuration was associated with the highest number of WWD activities, and factors that affect the risk of WWD mainly include: entrance and exit ramp traffic volume and control type, divided or undivided exit ramp, median cut turn access, left-turn perpendicular turning distance, skew angle, and distance between ramp terminals

The effects of custodial vs. non-custodial sentences on re-offending: A systematic review of the state of knowledge

As part of a broad initiative of systematic reviews of experimental or quasiexperimental evaluations of interventions in the field of crime prevention and the treatment of offenders, our work consisted in searching through all available databases for evidence concerning the effects of custodial and non-custodial sanctions on reoffending. For this purpose, we examined more than 3,000 abstracts, and finally 23 studies that met the minimal conditions of the Campbell Review, with only 5 studies based on a controlled or a natural experimental design. These studies allowed, all in all, 27 comparisons. Relatively few studies compare recidivism rates for offenders sentenced to jail or prison with those of offenders given some alternative to incarceration (typically probation). According to the findings, the rate of re-offending after a non-custodial sanction is lower than after a custodial sanction in 11 out of 13 significant comparisons. However, in 14 out of 27 comparisons, no significant difference on re-offending between both sanctions is noted. Two out of 27 comparisons are in favour of custodial sanctions. Finally, experimental evaluations and natural experiments yield results that are less favourable to non-custodial sanctions, than are quasi-experimental studies using softer designs. This is confirmed by the meta-analysis including four controlled and one natural experiment. According to the results, non-custodial sanctions are not beneficial in terms of lower rates of re-offending beyond random effects. Contradictory results reported in the literature are likely due to insufficient control of pre-intervention differences between prisoners and those serving “alternative” sanctions

The revised North Carolina State plan for the further elimination of racial duality in the public post-secondary education systems /

An earlier ed. published in 1974 under title: The North Carolina State plan for the further elimination of racial duality in the public post-secondary education systems.Mode of access: Internet