Much research and many policy initiatives to date have focused on access to postsecondary education. However, despite the fact that college attendance has increased considerably over the last three decades, the proportion of students who complete college has decreased. This lack of persistence and degree completion in college, especially among…

Congress charged the Advisory Committee in the "Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008" with monitoring and reporting on the condition of college access and persistence for low- and moderate-income students. The law requires provision of analyses and policy recommendations regarding the adequacy of grant aid from all sources--federal, state, and…

Over the past three and one-half decades, ACT has dedicated itself to conducting research that collects information from colleges and universities that will help them identify and better understand the impact of various practices on college student retention and persistence to degree-completion. Conducted in the spring of 2009, ACT's most recent…

Since President Obama took office, he has repeatedly called for the United States to significantly improve its postsecondary education performance. One goal in particular has gained wide attention: the President's declaration that in an ever more competitive global marketplace, the United States must once again lead the world in college…

The crisis in higher education is about more than money. It is about what one has been paying for, paying for dearly. The public, even in these hard times, supports higher education with its tax dollars. And families make huge sacrifices to send their sons and daughters to college. They deserve in return higher education that provides real…

This report summarizes 2009-2010 projects funded by Austin Independent School District's (AISD) $17 million federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act grant.

This study explores the variations in the academic trajectories of socio-demographic subgroups of English as a second language (ESL) students (N = 7527) in British Columbia, Canada. Results are compared to a native English speaker baseline (N = 37,612). Longitudinal data describing the 1997 Grade 8 cohort (i.e., students age 13, typically in their…

Districts and states that have begun to get traction in improving their graduation rates are pursuing a reform agenda that includes both the redesign of failing high schools and the development of multiple alternative pathways that help young people get back on track to graduation and to postsecondary education. Unlike traditional alternative…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Bush Budget Proposes Spending Freeze for U.S. Department of Education: Title I, Striving Readers, Statewide Data…

The "Graduate Information Booklet" provides directory-type information on Montgomery County (Maryland) services for disabled students who are graduating from high school. The first section on practical information explains armed services registration, acquisition of school records, personal identification cards, social security cards,…

This report consists of two volumes, the first takes an in-depth look at the various graduation indicators, with a description of the computational formulas, the data required for each indicator, the assumptions underlying each formula, the strengths and weaknesses of each indicator, and a consideration of the conditions under which each indicator…

Because of concerns that not enough students who start college are completing a bachelor's degree, and in response to a Congressional request, the General Accounting Office (GAO) examined the extent to which students who enroll in a 4-year college complete a bachelor's degree and the factors that affect completion. The study also investigated what…

This white paper was prepared for Staying the Course: High Standards and Improved Graduation Rates, a joint project of Achieve, Inc. and Jobs for the Future. Its goal is to provide policymakers with an overview of research about the dropout problem and the best strategies for building an early warning data system that can signal which students and…

"2P1" is the Carl Perkins label for an institution's graduation performance rate. Systems receiving Perkins funds, like Virginia's 23 community colleges, are expected to meet a federally approved 2P1 target rate. For the 3-year period 1999-2001 Virginia Western Community College (VWCC) was one of seven community colleges in the VCCS…

The legal parameters concerning how and when to properly graduate special education students are examined, through review of the United States Constitution, the Rehabilitation Act, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act, and subsequent case law. Recommendations on how school districts can properly terminate services are also presented.…