Piper, LaurenLeopold, MelanieReese, SophieTrueblood, Isabelle2024-07-022024-07-022024-05-01https://hdl.handle.net/11299/264052We were commissioned to conduct the research for this report by an organization called The Civic Affairs Trust, or TCAT. TCAT is a Minnesota-based trust whose purpose is to facilitate the redesign of community services and systems so they are self-improving. To date, TCAT's focus has been the K-12 public education system. TCAT approached the Humphrey School with the hypothesis that current policies governing eligibility for two alternative pathways programs, Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) and the General Education Development test (GED), are creating barriers for students because these policies limit participation based on age. We used qualitative research methods to answer three research questions: 1. What is adolescence? 2. Are age-restricted education policies creating unnecessary barriers to GED and PSEO programs in Minnesota? 3. If age is not a useful measure of readiness for PSEO and GED programs, what alternative measures might we consider? Our conclusions and recommendations around these three questions are based on our qualitative research findings.en-USPSEOCTEGEDeducationadolescencereadinessmaturityalternative measuresScholarly Text or Essay