Many argue that the conventional high school transcript has become irrelevant to today's best practices in teaching, learning, and assessment. With more and more school leaders turning to alternate, competency-based approaches for learning, crediting and transcripts can follow suit by drawing on badging, micro-crediting, digital portfolios of student work, and other emerging tools. Reinventing Crediting for Competency-Based Education explores the need for this transformation while detailing the implementation of promising models, particularly the Mastery Transcript Consortium. Written by an experienced consultant and former school leader, this book will assist school and district administrators in making a forward-thinking crediting and transcript system work for their students' futures.

"Upward mobility through the path of higher education has been an article of faith for generations of working-class, low-income, and immigrant college students. While we know this path usually entails financial sacrifices and hard work, very little attention has been paid to the deep personal compromises such students have to make as they enter worlds vastly different from their own. Measuring the true cost of higher education for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, Moving Up without Losing Your Way looks at the ethical dilemmas of upward mobility--the broken ties with family and friends, the severed connections with former communities, and the loss of identity--faced by students as they strive to earn a successful place in society"--Dust jacket.

This report uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and the High School & Beyond/Sophomores Study to summarize information on what is studied, where, and by whom, in the nation's colleges, community colleges, and postsecondary trade schools. Section 1 describes how the data is based on that which the taxonomy of courses and analyses of course-taking, credits, grades, degrees, etc., were constructed and edited. Section 2, "Degrees, Majors, Credits, and Time," presents the long-term educational attainment of the two cohorts of students (classes of 1972 and 1982). Section 3, "The Changing Shape of Delivered Knowledge," presents the taxonomy of courses, and includes the most common course titles in over 1,000 course categories, as well as enrollment trends by course category. Section 4 examines all credits earned by the two cohorts and identifies which courses account for most of those credits to yield an empirical "core curriculum." Section 5 provides data on proportions of students studying given subject categories; trend data is included for the past two decades. Finally, Section 6 provides data concerning such issues as trends in grade inflation and which courses students fail at high rates. The conclusion offers suggestions for further analysis of these data bases. (Contains 43 references.) (DB)

With increasingly interconnected educational and employment ecosystems, credential innovations are trailblazing multiple pathways to professions at a pivotal moment of rapid change. In the current state of credential proliferation, the quest for simultaneous improvement of quality and value reflects heightened cross-sector interests, while at the same time the quest for concurrent enhancement of access and success remains. With the evolving educational models, technologies, and organizations, credential innovations will continue to serve as powerful catalysts in realizing the great promise for inclusive pathways to professions. The Handbook of Research on Credential Innovations for Inclusive Pathways to Professions surveys the state of credential innovations, examines trends and issues, and explores models and strategies with case studies across sectors and disciplines. The 21 chapters are organized in three sections. Section I, Credential Innovations Amid Evolving Ecosystems, features a powerful array of change theories-in-action with topics ranging from conceptual re-visioning to organizational restructuring and programmatic reengineering within evolving ecosystems. Section II, Credential Innovations and Propositions Across Sectors, spotlights diverse approaches to and propositions of credentials within complex socio-economic landscapes across education, business, and technology industries. Section III, Credential Innovation Models and Strategies, showcases institutional innovations ranging from model developments, pedagogical approaches, and personalized engagements to outcome measurements and strategies for sustainable implementation. Lessons learned and implications are explored to share promising practices, inform current development, and influence future policies toward inclusive excellence in education and the workplace.

An award-winning, step-by-step guide to college admissions that helps students through every aspect of the application process and gives them a proven approach to make their application stand out from the rest. Two expert college admissions consultants—a mother-daughter team—share their step-by-step, proven strategy for creating an application that stands out and gets you IN! College admissions has never been more stressful. Not only is admission ruthlessly competitive, with more and more qualified students applying each year, but the application process has become more confusing than ever before. Most parents and students feel anxious, overwhelmed, and confused by the choices and trade-offs. In! is based on the authors’ 20+ years of experience working privately on boarding, college, and graduate school admissions with students from all over the world. While there is no shortage of college admissions guidebooks on the market, In! offers students and their parents a crucial element that none of the others do: a clear, step-by-step strategy that helps students not only compete academically with other qualified applicants but also develop a defining interest—in incremental, attainable steps—that distinguishes them from their peers and gives them an edge with college admissions officers. This strategy is summed up in a four-word phrase: “be alike but spike.” This means that the applicant must perform on par with other students applying to similar colleges, while also working to stand out from the pack—like a spike on a graph—in one area. (Ironically, it’s often the “well-rounded student,” an ideal many applicants strive for, who gets rejected.) In! shows students how to create that distinction by identifying and "layering" their passion, showcasing their interest in many different ways and circumstances. Enlivened with instructive case studies as well as entertaining New Yorker cartoons, this book carefully guides students through the application process, showing them how to rise to the top of an applicant pool of thousands. And unlike most books about “getting in,” In!’s lessons do not end at college acceptance. Rather than viewing college admissions as a hurdle to be quickly and painlessly cleared, mother-daughter team Luterman and Bloom present it as an opportunity for students to mature, expand their horizons, and discover what makes them tick. Not only does this book get you in, it gives teenagers the tools and confidence they'll need for future success. “Be Alike”—How to optimize your GPA, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, and more. “Spike”—How to develop a unique area of distinction that makes you stand out from your peers. How to create a winning college application—including personal essays, activity chart, letters of recommendation, and more. How to choose the right college for YOU, and how to prepare to attend, and afford, your top-choice school.