In an apprenticeship program, individuals complete productive work for an employer, earn a salary, receive training through supervised work-based learning, and take academic instruction related to the apprenticeship occupation. Such programs can improve career prospects and outcomes for teens and young adults. This fact sheet looks at the impacts…

Equipping all students with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in postsecondary education and enter the twenty-first-century job market is fundamental to the current K-12 education system. Unfortunately, many of today's high schools are not providing students with an engaging experience that is relevant to the workforce and that integrates…

Of the nearly 100 different types of high school diplomas that are awarded across all fifty states and the District of Columbia, less than half prepare students for success in college and career. And while the national high school graduation rate is at an all-time high, the rate at which students earn these college- and career-ready (CCR) diplomas…

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program is an advanced course of study that spans all four years of high school and research finds that participation can boost high school graduation rates for students from low-income families. This fact sheet examines IB's impact in Chicago Public Schools and guides state and district leaders through various…

The U.S. national high school graduation rate recently reached a record high with 81 percent of the Class of 2013 graduating within four years. While this accomplishment is laudable, it should not obscure the fact that more than 1,200 high schools, serving more than 1.1 million students, still fail to graduate one-third or more of their students…

Adolescence offers an opportunity for increased learning, but it also is a period of heightened stress due to the many biological and social changes students face. These various stressors can both directly and indirectly disrupt learning processes in still-developing adolescent brains. This Alliance for Excellent Education report underscores the…

Absent any federal requirement to monitor the performance of student subgroups, a significant number of states have implemented accountability systems that either ignore the performance of these students or provide only minimal oversight. As Congress moves forward with reauthorizing ESEA, it must codify the 2008 high school graduation rate…

This fact sheet discusses how Perkins V includes several provisions that support the implementation of Linked Learning and other high-quality college and career pathways initiatives. Linked Learning is an approach to high school redesign that combines (1) rigorous academics; (2) high-quality career and technical education (CTE); (3) work-based…

Under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, states and districts are responsible for supporting and improving the quality of low-performing high schools. This brief primer describes how ESSA impacts high school graduation rate goals, low-graduation-rate high schools, funding for high schools, school improvement funding, the High School…

Based on an extensive analysis of state waiver plans, this report shows that recent progress in holding schools accountable for how many students they graduate from high school--the ultimate goal of K-12 education--may be slowed in some states based on waivers recently granted under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), currently…

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 includes several provisions that support the implementation of Linked Learning in California. Linked Learning is an approach to high school redesign that combines: (1) rigorous academics; (2) career-based learning in the classroom; (3) work-based learning; and (4) integrated student supports. These…

This report demonstrates how one predominantly low-income school district dramatically improved student engagement in the classroom and increased high school graduation rates through project-based learning (PBL) and the effective use of technology. The report, which includes short video segments with educators and students, focuses on Talladega…

When President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act into law in 2002, the U.S. national high school graduation rate was 72.6 percent. Today, the national high school graduation rate has reached an all-time high of 81 percent and the number of low-graduation-rate high schools has declined considerably. While this progress is notable,…

Unfortunately, high schools are an afterthought in Title I, the federal government's primary source of support for educating low-income students. Only 10 percent of Title I funding supports high school students, while high schools educate almost one-fourth of the nation's low-income students. Nearly 1,300 high-poverty high schools are not even…

Years of data have consistently underscored the persistent graduation gap between America's students of color and their peers. The most recent estimate shows that high school graduation rates for African American, Latino, and American Indian students hover only slightly higher than 50 percent. This is more than 20 percentage points lower than that…