Implementing Kentucky's college readiness agenda: An organizational perspective of policy implementation

Nearly two-thirds of undergraduate college students within the United States fail to graduate within six years because they are unprepared for postsecondary education. Thus, many states have embarked on policy reform movements centered on college and career readiness for all high school graduates. This study focused on Kentucky's efforts to implement four key initiatives---accelerated learning, secondary interventions, college and career readiness advising, and persistence to graduation---resulting from sweeping reform policies enacted in 2009 by the Kentucky General Assembly. The study considers policy implementation from an organizational perspective and explores the structural characteristics associated with effective policy implementation at the school level.