SRI Education’s research continues to focus on ways to strengthen critically important transitions so all students, from early childhood to college and careers, feel supported and ready to move forward. In this newsletter, we highlight some of our ongoing projects and recent findings and resources about student transitions to college and careers.

This July newsletter is the second of a three-part summer series on transitions. In case you missed it, check out our June newsletter about transitions for students with disabilities. And be sure to catch the third newsletter coming in August, with insights and resources related to early learning transitions.

To read our past newsletters and stay up to date on our work, visit the SRI Education News site.

Transitions to College and Careers

Across the United States, research is shining a light on how our education system was not set up to equitably or effectively prepare all students to transition from high school to postsecondary education and the workforce.

First-generation college students are students whose parents did not complete a bachelor’s degree. They face significant barriers to accessing postsecondary education, remaining enrolled, and attaining a degree or certificate.

Also, despite enormous job growth in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, many students and young adults do not have access to academic pathways that enable them to pursue STEM careers.

Read about some of SRI Education’s research and technical assistance projects and partnerships to help eliminate barriers to postsecondary education and provide alternative and more accessible pathways to STEM careers.

Postsecondary Programs

• SRI Education’s longstanding work for the National Science Foundation’s INCLUDES National Network is helping network members collaborate to increase the active participation of students who have been historically underserved and underrepresented in STEM fields.
• SRI Education is actively contributing to the open education movement, breaking down barriers to college access and affordability. Read a new report on ways institutions and instructors can use open educational resources (OER) to give students immediate access to required course materials without having to pay for expensive textbooks.
• Open education can also transform instructional practice. Discover how SRI Education’s partnership with Achieving the Dream, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is filling the research gap on how using OER in community colleges enables culturally responsive teaching.
• SRI Education and the Community College Research Center are forming a new research center The Postsecondary Teaching with Technology Collaborative. The Collaborative is leading a study that will lay the foundation for a national program to help higher education leaders adopt instructional strategies and online tools to promote students’ self-directed learning skills.
• SRI Education researchers are using improvement science to help a collaborative network in West Virginia transform the state’s higher education system to support the persistence and degree attainment of college STEM majors from first-generation and underrepresented backgrounds.

Career Development Programs

• SRI Education researchers conducted three federally funded studies of Los Angeles City College’s STEM Pathways program and found promising impacts on STEM persistence and degree completion for Latinx students and students from low-income households.
• With the rapid growth in STEM fields, students need to acquire a wide range of employability skills. With funding from the National Science Foundation, SRI Education researchers reviewed previous studies and interviewed STEM educators, employers, and 2-year program graduates across 14 states to identify innovative ways to help students develop these critical skills.
• SRI Education has also been helping state education agencies ensure their high school career and technical education programs align with workforce needs in their regions, so students can transition to high-demand jobs that do not require postsecondary education.
• Finally, let’s not forget that students also need a range of nonacademic skills to successfully transition to college and careers. SRI Education has assembled a handy set of strategies and resources for anyone who supports these transitions. Find the Paving the Pathway to College and Careers Resource Compilation on the Regional Educational Laboratory Program website.

Want to learn more about SRI Education’s work related to college and career transitions? Explore our College & Career Pathways Blog. You’ll find additional research and resources on postsecondary transitions, career and technical education, STEM and computer science preparation, and partnerships to support college access and workforce development.

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SRI Education, a division of SRI International, is helping federal and state agencies, school districts, major foundations, nonprofit organizations, and international and commercial clients tackle some of the most complex issues in education to help students succeed. Our mission is to reduce barriers, optimize outcomes, and ensure educational equity for all children, youth, and families. We do this by conducting high-quality research, supporting use of data and evidence, helping to strengthen state and local systems, and developing tools that improve teaching and accelerate and deepen learning. Our work covers a range of topics: early learning and development, disability and inclusion, supporting multilingual learners, student behavior and well-being, teaching quality, digital learning, STEM and computer science, and literacy and language arts, and college and career pathways. We believe diversity in our organization and project teams leads to better and more equitable research and technical assistance, resulting in improved outcomes for all.

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