This paper offers a list of questions and corresponding answers about the 4-year cohort graduation rate. Answers to the following questions are presented: (1) Why don't GED (General Educational Development) students count as graduates?; (2) How does a district code students who have moved out of state? How should a district code a student who…

This report reviews high school dropout rates and related factors in rural high schools throughout 15 Southern and Southwestern states. These schools are in districts that are among the 800 rural districts with the highest student poverty rate nationally. Seventy-seven percent of the "Rural 800" districts and 87 percent of the students in them are…

This document is part of a series of guides designed to help school district leaders address one of the toughest challenges in American education: dropout rates of 30 percent nationwide, 50 percent in many big cities, and 60 percent or more in the lowest-performing schools. This second guide in the series offers a detailed examination of the six…

The 2010 Public Policy Agenda summarizes the American Association of State Colleges and Universities' (AASCU's) principles and priorities in key areas of higher education policy. This paper is intended to serve as a point of reference for the association's members and other interested organizations, as well as federal and state policymakers.…

In January 2001, the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) released a distance learning strategic plan that endorsed taking a student-centered approach to online learning as well as providing support services to promote faculty development and student success. The current study was commissioned by VCCS to investigate student outcomes for the…

Left out of the conversation for education reform, at least on the level of grade school, secondary school, and college are the adult education programs provided across the country. These programs receive a fraction of the funds and respect as mainstream programs do. However, they are sorely needed in Northwest Indiana. The region's early 21st…

This brochure presents state statistics; Alabama public schools 2009-10; Alabama State Board of Education members; financial data; public school size and enrollment, 2009-10 school year; transportation; school meals; school personnel, 2009-2010; graduation requirements; student assessment; additional enrollment; and dropouts in school year 2008-09.

In this study, we investigated the changes in physical education programs from 2001 to 2006 based on an analysis of data reported in The Shape of the Nation Report: Status of Physical Education in the USA (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2006). Means and standard deviations for numeric variables in the reports were computed,…

This paper explores the impact of recent economic volatility on higher education and discusses the lessons learned and the strategies for the future. The author believes that America's higher education is in danger, but has an extraordinary opportunity. Several reports point to the country's lagging behind other advanced countries in educational…

This article discusses the initiatives of Purdue University President France Cordova in boosting minority and female representation among administration and students and in improving overall undergraduate performance. Dr. France Cordova is by no means the first college president to declare increasing the presence of women and minorities on campus…

This paper investigates the enrolment trends and the critical factors that impinge on students' choice of physics as major field of study. The data were generated from primary and secondary sources. Primary data was acquired based on a semi-structured interview with 14 sophomore and 11 senior students and five instructors of the department of…

Serious social and economic consequences affect the local and national levels when students drop out of school. Research has shown that collaboration among schools, families, and communities in the academic progression of students can decrease their drop out probability. The author presents findings related to a qualitative study conducted in…

Evidence-based policy requires sophisticated modelling and reasoning about complex social data. The current UK statistics curricula do not equip tomorrow's citizens to understand such reasoning. We advocate radical curriculum reform, designed to require students to reason from complex data.

A pair of economists at the College of William and Mary have devised a new way of comparing colleges' graduation rates--a method, borrowed from business analysis, that they believe is fairer and more useful than the techniques used by "U.S. News & World Report" and the Education Trust. That general technique of regression analysis underlies the…

Latino student access to higher education has received significant national attention in recent years. This article describes a theory-based evaluation approach used with ENLACE of Hillsborough, a 5-year project funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the purpose of increasing Latino student graduation from high school and college. Theory-based…