Brain science reveals that there are two periods of heightened plasticity, a time when the brain is especially prone to change: The first period is from birth to age 3; the second is during adolescence. The author, Laurence Steinberg, suggests that this finding should stimulate interest in secondary education as an opportune time to intervene to…

U.S. high school graduation rates have risen steadily for the past decade, hitting an all-time high of 82 percent in 2013-14 (Rich, 2015). Yet there's a dark cloud behind this silver lining. According to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education (2015), only 59 percent of students who enter four-year colleges complete their…

Survey responses from 3,271 high schools were analyzed to determine the status of innovational programs in curriculum, technology, and organization. (GW)

Daniel Goleman, author of the bestseller "Emotional Intelligence," spoke at the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development annual conference about children's declining emotional health indicators. He noted that emotional well-being predicts success in academic achievement, employment, marriage, and physical health; and that…

Educational practices involving emotional intelligence should be based on solid research, not sensationalistic claims. There are two emotional-intelligence models based on ability and an ability/social-competence mixture. Emphasizing cooperative behavior could stifle creativity, healthy skepticism, or spontaneity. Teaching emotional reasoning pays…

Describes a forecasting model sensitive to the major factors influencing educational outcomes, presents several forecasts based on alternative sets of assumptions, and discusses the implications of these forecasts, including ways to subvert them. (Author/JG)

The Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Public Schools' Project RISE raised the achievement levels of 18 inner-city elementary schools dramatically without changing personnel or student composition, and without additional funding. Improvements were related to change in staff attitudes and in policies and practices affecting management, organization, behavior,…

According to an Oregon longitudinal study, the single best predictor of adolescent criminal behavior is a long-established pattern of early school antisocial behavior. The most promising intervention programs feature a strong family component and direct intervention procedures simultaneously applied to the student's school behavior. A sidebar…

During the last two decades, estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau have suggested that the U.S. high school completion rate was steadily rising and nearing 90 percent. In the last few years, however, estimates from independent researchers have contradicted this rosy picture and found much lower completion rates ranging from 66.1 percent to 74.4…