In 2013-14, the high school graduation rate reached a record high of 82 percent (U.S. Department of Education 2015a). Despite the gains, over half a million students still drop out of high school each year (U.S. Department of Education 2015b). High schools have adopted various strategies designed to keep students who are at risk of not graduating…

The transition into high school is a critical point in the educational pipeline, and ninth-grade can be characterized as one of its leakiest junctures. This policy brief examines how some states and districts are currently easing the transition into high school for students. It focuses on five key challenges that states, districts and schools…

The National Governors' Association is urging states to develop a standardized cohort graduation rate definition and to develop data systems with quality data that can in turn be used to produce a reliable indicator. This paper is an examination of one state's graduation rate using the cohort method. The statistics generated are compared to a…

In recent years those concerned with educational outcomes have begun to embrace a paradigm shift towards quantifiable rather than qualitative approaches as learning outcomes are continually measured for effectiveness. The cumulative results of this approach with regards to Pennsylvania's Migrant Education Program (MEP) laid the foundation for this…

Every day, we learn what works so students can make greater progress. Six years after No Child Left Behind's passage--and midway to the nation's goal of having students on grade level or better in reading and math by 2014--we have collected more data than ever before about the academic performance of our students and schools. This information…

Improving high school graduation rates has in recent years become a growing concern to state and local policymakers for a number of reasons: the reduced economic opportunities and increased social costs for individuals without a high school diploma; the economic consequences, such as reduced tax revenues; and the need for more college graduates.…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…