This report is intended to serve as a companion to the "Career Preparation Expansion Act (CPEA) Report," produced by the Maryland Longitudinal Data System (MLDS) Center in collaboration with the Governor's Workforce Development Board. The CPEA Report focused on the workforce outcomes of high school graduates five years after graduation.…

Diploma and degree completion have become the fundamental standard for judging the performance of secondary and postsecondary educational institutions. Increasingly, leaders of education and workforce policy and programs assume that these measures of attainment effectively serve as indicators of adequate levels of essential literacy and numeracy…

On Dec. 21, 2020, Congress lifted the 26-year ban on federal student aid--specifically, the Pell grant--for those who are incarcerated. The decision came after a long push for prison reforms that included calls for a greater emphasis on rehabilitation, reducing prison populations, and making prison sentences less harsh. New England has long been a…

Until 2014, the General Educational Development (GED®) test dominated the high school equivalency (HSE) test market throughout the United States, to the point that educational experts acknowledged the acronym "GED" had become synonymous with "high school equivalency." However, changes to the test, the way it is administered,…

Young people have been hit especially hard by changes in the labor market over the past decades. Unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds increased the most of any age group during the recent recession, and remains more than double that among older adults. The unemployment rate is especially high for young people without high school diplomas.…

This report analyzes 2012 employment outcomes for Arkansas residents by level of educational attainment. This work builds on previous research presented in the 2011 Arkansas Education to Employment Report (see ED607464), using new and expanded data to investigate employment outcomes for Arkansas residents who achieved their highest levels of…

The annual "Accountability Report" produced by the Council on Postsecondary Education highlights the system's performance on the state-level metrics included in "Stronger by Degrees: A Strategic Agenda for Kentucky Postsecondary and Adult Education." For each metric, we outline steps taken to improve performance, as well as…

Dropping out of high school seriously impacts an individual's job opportunities, income potential and employment stability. To minimize those risks, individuals can earn a General Educational Development (GED) credential. Researchers have studied the impact of obtaining a GED on candidates' lives and found that the credential affects their…

This report updates a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. The report includes national and regional population estimates for the percentage of students who dropped out of high school between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of young people who were dropouts in 2009, and the percentage of young people…

This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2008, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three and a half decades (1972-2008), and examines the characteristics of high…

This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2007, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last 3 decades (1972-2007), and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts…

This brief calculates graduation rates for the state of Florida using longitudinal data. The authors describe their measurement strategies and compare them with the state's official measurement procedures. They calculate the diploma and General Education Development (GED) attainment rates of six separate cohorts of Florida 9th graders who began…

The Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002) provides a wealth of information from multiple sources about the factors and circumstances related to the performance and social development of American high school sophomores as they enter and leave various levels of the education system. This First Look report draws upon ELS:2002 second…

This issue brief examines the educational outcomes of students who were classified as high school dropouts 8 years after most of their 1988 cohort of 8th graders would have completed high school. Some students who drop out return a short time later to earn a diploma, some may pursue an alternative credential such as a General Educational…

Health literacy is important for all adults. Because lower health literacy is associated with lower educational attainment, many adult basic and literacy education programs increasingly provide health education to low-literate adults to improve their health literacy. Using data from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL), this study…