This report contains the testimony of Preston Cooper, a senior fellow focusing on the economics of higher education at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), to the House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies concerning the federal role in postsecondary education, and the…

Teacher quality and student achievement have shown positive relationships in prior studies of elementary and secondary grade levels in the United States. However, postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) teacher quality and student achievement is an understudied topic. According to the literature, teacher quality is measured by…

As students and educators head back for another pandemic-disrupted school year, the third and final edition of Quality Counts 2021 provides a broad perspective on the nation's K-12 system, with summative grades and scores for the U.S. and each state on a range of academic, financial, and socioeconomic indicators that underlie student achievement…

This report presents a broad overview of data on the education of Black students in the United States in early childhood, K-12, and postsecondary education. The data clearly show disparities in outcomes for Black students' graduation rates, test scores, course completion, and many other measures, when compared with national averages and other…

This introductory report outlines the challenges of postsecondary completion, the variable value provided by a postsecondary pathway, and the corresponding cost and debt. Together, these challenges create an inequitable, ineffective, and unsustainable U.S. postsecondary system in which individuals are increasingly reluctant to participate or…

This year's annual update to the nation includes three new features. The first is a Secondary School Improvement Index to assess whether gains in high school graduation rates nationally and by state are translating into better preparation for postsecondary education. The second feature is a focus on homeless students with graduation rate data…

For the last two decades, graduation rates have been one of the key metrics used to evaluate school effectiveness under federal law, with the goal of ensuring that all students receive a high-quality education. Researchers have found, however, that policies intended to optimize this accountability measure can have undesirable consequences for…

With a postsecondary credential essential to finding a good job but the cost of college beyond the means of many families, a growing number of high schools are offering their students a powerful head start on higher education. About 1.3 million U.S. teens participate in dual enrollment, up from 680,000 when the century began. Critics worry that…

This 22nd edition of "Quality Counts" offers a fresh take on the annual top-to-bottom ranking of the nation's school systems on a state-by-state basis published by "Education Week". The first of three "Quality Counts" reports being rolled out over the course of the year, "Grading the States" aims to…

Students with disabilities learn differently and at various rates. The issue is not the students, however, but is the lack of a belief system to have the same expectations for students with disabilities as their non-disabled peers. Rules and regulations have been established to ensure K-12 public schools comply with and provide quality services to…

This dissertation examines the role that external factors play in students' educational attainment and success. The first two chapters examine the role of school quality. Chapter 1 examines how the timing of school quality impacts human capital formation, and Chapter 2 examines whether schools provide equal quality to all students within the…

Career and Technical Education (CTE) at Austin Independent School District (AISD) aims to provide scholars with academic knowledge and technical skills needed to gain entry to high-demand, high-skill, and high-wage industries. This report summarizes results of the CTE Program Analysis Scorecard for the 2019-2020 school year. The CTE Program…

To address the issues of affordability and student persistence through graduation, some institutions of higher education have embraced the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) program. The fact that several of these institutions have subsequently shown improvements in affordability and student retention suggests that other colleges and…

Even though many of Alaska's students are getting a good education, historically Alaska has some of the largest achievement gaps in the country. Compared to other states in America, Alaska ranks at or near the bottom in reading and math scores. This document is a call to action. Thousands of Alaskans have stepped up to answer this call and have…

Schools play a critical role in brokering access to college and career information and resources. The authors used the American Teacher Panel and American School Leader Panel to survey nationally representative samples of teachers and principals in U.S. public high schools about their perceptions of the quality and availability of their schools'…