EPIC conducts research and designs academic tools to assist secondary and postsecondary educators to develop aligned curricula. This approach supports EPIC's mission to help students achieve greater success in entry-level college coursework.

EPIC works with clients to determine how well high schools prepare students to be ready for college using knowledge of the types of readiness demanded by entry-level college programs. Such information is a useful starting point for curricular redesign to improve alignment and enhance student college readiness and success.

CURRENT PROJECT view project

The AP program is designed to provide an experience to high school students equivalent to what they will encounter in a typical introductory course taught at colleges and universities. Given the increasing importance of the AP curriculum in high schools and its popularity with students, it is incumbent upon AP to ensure that all courses taught under the AP rubric reflect the best of college courses. This helps ensure that students who take AP courses are properly prepared for college success and that high school teachers gear their teaching of AP to the best college practices.

The goal of this study is not simply to update AP content or examinations. Its broader purpose is to inform high school AP teaching so that the proper content focus is emphasized and, more importantly, the crucial attitudes and skills necessary to thrive in a college classroom are systematically developed. Results from this study will shape College Board exams and programs and, by extension, high school preparation programs.

CURRENT PROJECT view project

The College Readiness Evaluation for Schools and Teachers (CREST) project is designed to identify the specific ways in which high schools can prepare more students for college success. The project conducted site visits at 38 specially-selected high schools across the United States that were identified based on their ability to do a better-than-expected job of preparing their students for college. The project paid special attention to schools that prepare large proportions of students from groups historically underrepresented in higher education. The project is sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

EPIC sent teams of researchers to each school to conduct a two-day site visit. Researchers observed classes and conducted interviews and focus groups with school administrators, teachers, counselors, students, and parents in order to learn more about how the school's structure, culture, and instructional program promote college readiness. The research team also collected key documents such as course syllabi, reading lists, and course assignment scoring rubrics and grading criteria. Findings from these site visits were combined with previously conducted research to develop an online instrument that will allow high schools around the nation to compare their programs to the best practices from this body of research that includes practices from success high schools. This online system will eventually generate an individualized profile containing recommendations for improvement and links to resources that will help the high school improve its ability to prepare students for college success.

A discrepancy analysis is designed to identify key issues of policy and practice in an area of interest so that action can be taken. The goal is to provide a starting point for contrasting "what is" with "what ought to be." Analysis of the academic performance of selected students from high school into their first year of college can reveal major discrepancies that exist in college preparation programs.

By definition, a discrepancy analysis focuses upon areas of concern. However, the results of a discrepancy analysis are not designed to be either an indictment or endorsement of the current way of doing business. This is because a discrepancy analysis is undertaken to highlight issues in terms of strengths and areas of potential change. While the results of a discrepancy analysis may be difficult to view objectively by some, particularly those most involved in the field under analysis, the intent is to present data, not to reach judgments.

DOCUMENT view document

The Center for Educational Policy Research (CEPR) conducted a three-year study to determine a process to align courses between high school and college. Through this process, the last course in a high school subject area is designed to connect with the first course in a college sequence. The CEPR study resulted in a design for a process as well as a number of concrete examples of aligned courses. These partnerships have been used in the South Carolina and Massachusetts projects and to create Senior Seminars. All are described below.

CURRENT PROJECT view project

Dr. David Conley and the staff at EPIC will conduct a series of regional workshops sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Education. Dynamic techniques for improving student success and strengthening alignment between high school and college will be shared with participants at these conference sessions.

Workshop participants will be introduced to a new definition of college readiness for today's student and an overview of powerful tools available to help improve high school/college alignment. Participants will leave with an action plan including concrete steps for pursuing local partnerships to improve college readiness for all students.

TOOL view tool

Senior seminars are high school exit-level courses designed to prepare seniors for the challenges of college-level work. Senior seminars encourage improved alignment by facilitating collaborative course development between high school and postsecondary faculty.

The Knowledge and Skills for University Success serve as a foundation for the Senior Seminars. By using these college readiness standards, courses that are intellectually coherent and developmentally progressive will enable students in the middle 50 percent of academic ranking to experience the pace and rigor of a college course. Each Senior Seminar emphasizes analytical thinking, critiquing student writing, a challenging pace of reading, the integrating and application of acquired knowledge from other courses, and the free exchange of ideas among class members and instructors. Scoring rubrics are more consistent with what students will encounter in college-level courses.

CURRENT PROJECT view project

The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education, in partnership with the Department of Education and the Technical College System, is initiating a series of activities and programs designed to improve alignment between secondary and postsecondary institutions throughout the state. This initiative is being undertaken to help the state's educational system respond to legislative mandates, to adapt to the realities of the state's changing economy, and to accommodate student aspirations.

The South Carolina Course Alignment Project is the first statewide collaborative effort to bring together high school and college faculty from two- and four-year institutions to create greater continuity between high school exit courses in English, mathematics, and science and corresponding entry-level college courses in the same disciplines. The project will conduct research on the current state of alignment between high school and postsecondary education and will facilitate local partnerships to improve alignment through the creation of paired courses and other activities that connect high school and college more directly. The results from these local partnerships will help inform statewide policy decisions designed to improve overall system alignment.