The Promise and Challenges of a College-Ready Graduation Policy: Lessons From San Francisco

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

There is growing interest in high school graduation policies that require students to complete coursework aligned to college entrance standards. States and school districts look to their long-term research partners to build a trustworthy body of evidence about the key features of an effective and impactful “college-ready” graduation policy. In this session, researchers from Stanford University and school district leaders from San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) discuss with session attendees the genesis as well as findings from research related to San Francisco’s graduation policy; the efforts to use this research to improve the practices and policy; the impact of the policy on students’ secondary and post-secondary outcomes; and implications for research, policy and practice.

Sub Unit

• AERA Sessions

Cosponsor

• SIG-Districts in Research & Reform

Chairs

• Laura P. Wentworth, California Education Partners

• Thomas Dee, Stanford University

• Bill W. Sanderson, San Francisco Unified School District

• Laura Wentworth, California Education Partners

Papers

• Using Early Identification Systems to Set Students on a Path to College Readiness - Hadar Baharav, Stanford University; Laurel Sipes, Stanford University; Jennifer Donahue, San Francisco Unified School District

• A Longitudinal Analysis on the Outcomes and Implementation of College-Ready Graduation Policy in San Francisco - Julie Yu, San Francisco Unified School District; Bill W. Sanderson, San Francisco Unified School District

• A Focus on Newcomer English Learners: Language Development and Credit Recovery Through San Francisco Unified School District EL Village - Angela Johnson, NWEA; Jennifer Fong, San Francisco Unified School District

Discussant

• Sade Bonilla, University of Massachusetts-Amherst