This staff working document is intended to accompany and support the Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation Pathways to School Success, which will repeal and replace the 2011 Council Recommendation on policies to reduce early school leaving. The staff working document sets out in more detail and depth the concepts put forward in the…

Urban high schools are in trouble--high dropout rates, low student academic achievement, and graduates who are unprepared for college are just some of the disappointing indicators. However, recent research points to a select number of approaches to improving student outcomes and reforming underperforming schools--from particular ways of creating…

A three-year study tracking outcomes for approximately 3,000 students across California shows that career-focused dual enrollment programs can provide important benefits for those who are underachieving and underrepresented in higher education. Dual enrollment, which allows high school students to take college courses and earn college credit, was…

Noting that the nation is in the midst of a dropout crisis that will cost more than $3 trillion in lost wages over the lifetime of the 12 million students projected to drop out over the next decade, "Prioritizing the Nation's Lowest-Performing High Schools" calls on federal policymakers to perform "legislative triage" by devoting attention to the…

This brief provides an update on the 2005 "CenterView" featuring 8th grade Algebra I (ED485345). It finds that not much has changed in three years with California middle school students still struggling in Algebra I and 32% of middle school math teachers lacking a subject matter credential in math. Because Algebra I is so critically…

The Ramsey School District (New Jersey) educates approximately 2,200 students, 90 percent of which continue on to a post-high school education. However, in the last few years Melville has noticed a decline in student achievement. Following the New Jersey State Department of Education adoption of Code 6:26, Public Assistance Committees, the…

State guidelines for 1981/82 and 1985/86 were compared to identify trends in definitions and methods used to diagnose learning disabilities (LD). The later guidelines tended to delineate specific achievement discrepancy criteria. However, major components of LD definitions were not altered and IQ cutoffs were not implemented. (Author/DB)

Eliminating social promotion, retaining students in grade, and using proficiency standards to determine students' progress through grades was intended to make schools accountable and increase academic achievement. Research evidence demonstrates that grade retention does not improve achievement and may increase the chances of a student dropping out…

A school board member in Sarasota County, Florida, interviewed 30 failing students at five high schools to find out why they were failing. She concluded that more caring attitudes by school staff are needed to help these students to succeed in school. (TE)

This report begins to address the need for research about the structures, policies, and supports that leaders are implementing to address the needs of low-performing schools. It documents findings from a descriptive research study of four states and one large urban district in the Northeast during the formation and early implementation of new…

Rejects the hypothesis that low achievement by migrant children is because of deficient cultural attributes or institutional ethnocentrism of schools. Suggests that schools always discriminate--positively or negatively--when, according to their institutional logic, it appears to be appropriate. (CFR)

Despite prestigious reports, most notably "A Nation at Risk," and fervent reform efforts, school performance is unlikely to be improved by measures failing to recognize that schools are institutions--complex organizations composed of interdependent parts, governed by well-established rules and norms, and adapted for stability. Effective…

The Latino population in the United States is growing, especially school-aged children. Yet, because most of the increase in the Latino population is concentrated in the Southwest, the educational problems and needs of this population are viewed as state or regional issues. Policymakers must look beyond their state borders and realize that in this…

Learning disabilities among adults are more prevalent than was once believed, although estimates of numbers are difficult to make. Problems faced by adults with LD include difficulties with academic and information processing and adult life adjustment. Many adults with LD exhibit strengths that enable them to compensate for their disabilities and…

This article reviews the literature on grouping and argues for flexible grouping of students according to ability and achievement levels and maintains that grouping gifted students heterogeneously and providing cooperative learning leads to lowered achievement and motivation and poorer attitudes toward school for gifted students. (DB)