Opportunity youth

Designing Schools with and for Students

This research brief identifies promising strategies for embracing student voice in school design based on the experience of Engage New England (ENE) grantees. Successfully engaging students in decision-making and school design is not as simple as inviting them to attend staff meetings. As ENE grantees learned, meaningfully engaging students requires planning, scaffolding, and sustained attention … Continue reading Designing Schools with and for Students →

More Than Getting to the Door: Non-Academic Supports to Ensure Students Graduate from College (Part 4—Academic Self-Efficacy)

Every fall semester, first-time college students across the country embark on an academic journey full of promise. Unfortunately, some students do not make it to the finish line because they have trouble adjusting to the academic demands of college.

More Than Getting to the Door: Non-Academic Supports to Ensure Students Graduate from College (Part 3—Institutional Knowledge Required to Navigate Higher Education Systems)

Academic institutions can be difficult to navigate, especially for students who do not have college-educated parents. At 4-year institutions, first-generation students are twice as likely than students whose parents have a bachelor’s degree to leave before their second year.

More Than Getting to the Door: Non-Academic Supports to Ensure Students Graduate from College (Part 2—Financial Supports Beyond Institutional Financial Aid)

The high cost of tuition at public and private 4-year academic institutions is a hot topic in national media today. However, students face many financial barriers to degree completion introduced by expenses that aren’t fully covered by their financial aid packages.

More Than Getting to the Door: Non-Academic Supports to Ensure Students Graduate from College (Part 1—An Overview)

The transition from high school to college can be difficult in the best of times, let alone during a global pandemic. Our previous post on Supporting Postsecondary Transitions During COVID-19 offers practical resources for supporting students and families navigating the college application and enrollment process during the pandemic.

Study of the Engage New England Initiative Cross-Site Learning Brief 1

In 2017, the Barr Foundation launched Engage New England (ENE), a signature initiative that provides a unique opportunity for local education agencies and nonprofits to plan for and develop innovative schools designed to serve students off track to high school graduation. SRI Education, the research partner for the ENE initiative, captured the learnings from the … Continue reading Study of the Engage New England Initiative Cross-Site Learning Brief 1 →

Evaluation of the Engage New England Initiative

SRI is helping the Barr Foundation and the broader education community better understand how to design and implement innovative schools for students who are off track to graduate high school