This article argues that strong interrelations between methodological and theoretical advances exist. Progress in, especially comparative, methods may have important impacts on theory evaluation. By using the example of the "Varieties of Capitalism" approach and an international comparison of higher education systems, it can be shown…

This article examines definitions, rationales, and calculations associated with higher education performance measures: persistence, retention rate, attrition rate, drop-out rate, and graduation rate. Strengths and limitations of these measures are scrutinized relative to online master's programs. Outcomes of a sample of students (N = 96) enrolled…

This paper addresses methodological issues arising from an experimental study of North Carolina's Early College High School Initiative, a four-year longitudinal experimental study funded by Institute for Education Sciences. North Carolina implemented the Early College High School (ECHS) Initiative in response to low high school graduation rates.…

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has endorsed a "Closing the Gap" agenda designed to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians. The agenda is distilled in a series of targets, one of which is the goal of halving the gap for Indigenous students in Year 12 attainment or equivalent (Certificate II or above) attainment rates by…

Reports consistently demonstrate that the attainment of a high school diploma is not simply of value to the individual student, but that the benefit of a high school diploma is reaped by the graduate's community as well. Most educators readily acknowledge the importance of dropout prevention and the significance of a high school diploma. A…

The vast amount of research conducted on student persistence over the past thirty years is indicative of the continuing and evolving interest in retention of students. Framed through multiple perspectives, this retention research is driven by the fact that more students leave institutions without graduating, year after year. Much more than an…

A new report published by the Buckeye Institute for Public Policy Solutions is a minor variant on six similar reports published by the Friedman Foundation over the past three years. The new report repeats some of the errors in the previous reports, and it follows a parallel structure, arguing that the costs of dropping out are dramatic for the…

In May 2008, the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) issued the Education Policy Brief, "Calculating High School Graduation Rates," which discussed the importance of accurate and reliable high school graduation data, various graduation rate calculation methods, the history behind the use of particular methodologies, and…

In this paper the authors illustrate the use of a strict standard for evaluating evidence on programs and strategies designed to improve outcomes for high school students. They explain what they mean by solid evidence, and present examples from multi-site evaluations of three programs. After that they examine some of the evidence on high school…