In an effort to promote college enrollment and degree completion, the state of Tennessee has invested a student-centric, technology-based blended learning model of high school mathematics instruction, The Seamless Alignment and Integrated Learning Support (SAILS).

The SAILS program provides high school seniors likely to require math remediation in college with coursework equivalent to college-level developmental education classes. Eligible students who complete the program are able to satisfy math require-ments for high school graduation and, upon postsecondary matriculation, to enroll directly in credit-bearing coursework toward a college degree.

Researchers at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University and Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education are partnering with the SAILS Program and Tennessee state leadership to conduct an evaluation of SAILS. Using a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the study will examine the impact of participation in SAILS on students’ short- and long-term outcomes and investigate the mechanisms by which the program may promote students’ postsecondary success.

SDP launched a College-Going Diagnostic research collaboration with the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) as part of a larger partnership between the two organizations. In defining the scope of work for this project, TDOE policymakers were particularly interested in investigating how students’ transition from high school to postsecondary education differed across schools, regions, and student subgroups. The SDP College-Going Diagnostic examines the extent to which Tennessee high school students faced specific barriers to postsecondary enrollment, such as inadequate academic preparation for college-level coursework and limited college access.