The School-to-College Transition in the Context of Educational Reform: Student Retention and the State Policy Process

This study examines the impact of state-level educational reform in Kentucky on college student retention. By tracking the educational progress of students who graduated from high school in a large school district and who subsequently enrolled in a research university in the same metropolitan area, the study reveals that the accountability measures and policy tools embedded in the educational reform effort contribute little to the prediction of student retention. The analysis questions the viability of state-driven reforms to improve the retention of students transitioning from high school to college in Kentucky and suggests that high schools and colleges may be able to improve student retention through the development of student information systems that are based on concept of “supply chain management.”