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Focus Area:
College and Career Readiness

CRPE studies how to rethink the high school-to-career continuum. We address critical research areas such as the gaps in current methods of preparing students for life after high school, experimental high school models that have emerged in response to the shifting educational landscape, and state policies that support high-quality and accessible secondary work-based learning and relevant career training.

  • Briefs    
  • Research Reports    

Access to Qualified Math Teachers for All Students

Alexander Kurz, Shauna Campbell

Concerns about student math performance in the U.S. have grown in recent years, driven by persistent disparities, pandemic-related disruptions, and stagnating or declining national achievement scores.

  • The Lens    

Retooling Educator Preparation for the Future of Learning

Lennon Audrain, Carole Basile

The United States faces a serious workforce challenge—not just in raw numbers, but in how we prepare and support talent across sectors.

  • The Lens    

“I Have Expensive Dreams.” Preparing Students for College and Career in the Face of Widening Equity Gaps

Sarah Carr

Expensive dreams Eraste Talla Ngoualadjo always planned on attending a four-year university in the United States. But when his family emigrated from Cameroon to Boston in 2022, they were astounded by the high cost of even the country’s public universities.

  • The Lens    

A “Good Life” after High School: How Schools Can Help Students Prepare

Lisa Chu, Heather Casimere

Today’s students are struggling after they leave the K-12 system: fewer students are enrolling in college, and more of those who enroll are floundering and at risk of dropping out.

  • Research Reports    

Postsecondary Enrollment during the Pandemic: Evidence from Rhode Island

Patrick Denice

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of economic and social life, affecting who went to college and where. This paper asks: How did patterns of enrollment and persistence in college and university change during the pandemic?

  • Research Reports    

A “Good Life” for Every Student: High Schools Embrace Many Pathways to Success

Chelsea Waite, Maddy Sims

CRPE & CPRL hosted a webinar on this report with the co-authors and report stakeholders. Check it out! https://youtu.be/z60wtyyXw_g Can the lessons schools learned in the Covid-19 recovery period contribute to more lasting, transformative shifts in high school?

  • The Lens    

Innovation Spotlights: Case Studies in High School Redesign

Chelsea Waite, Cara Pangelinan, Lisa Chu, Naureen Madhani, Heather Casimere

Educators nationwide are forging their way in a landscape rocked by pandemic-induced disruptions. Training resources designed to spark new thinking among school staff often feel outdated—especially if they were published before 2020.

  • Press Releases    

New Report: Crisis in Classroom Instruction Impedes Academic Recovery

In a report released today, the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) delivers new information on the dire state of classroom instruction and its detrimental impact on academic recovery in the aftermath of three years of learning disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Research Reports    

Teaching Recovery? Three Years In, School System Leaders Report the Pandemic Weakened Instruction

Lydia Rainey, Paul Hill, Robin Lake

In this report, we conclude our research on five school systems to reveal the academic, social, and political challenges posed by the pandemic and what leaders and their staff are doing to address student learning loss.

  • The Lens    

SEL, Mentoring, Career Prep: Schools That Deliver What Parents Say They Want

Chelsea Waite

This piece was originally published in The 74. Waite: Changing the DNA of how schools educate students is hard, long-term work.

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