Since 1959 the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) has held annual competitions to award leadership (doctoral preparation) projects to universities to support doctoral students pursuing careers in special education or in a related service. OSEP's leadership preparation projects are four years in duration and offer a one- or two-year…

The National Dropout Prevention Center (NDPC) at Clemson University has been at the forefront of identifying model dropout prevention programs and promoting the use of best practices to increase the graduation rates in schools since 1986. The structure for these varied interventions and solutions takes the form of effective strategies, model…

Manufacturers in the United States are struggling to recruit and hire high-skilled workers needed to maintain productivity and to compete globally. While the total number employed in the manufacturing sector is shrinking, the demand for high-skilled workers has increased. Community and technical colleges have traditionally been an important source…

According to a 2000 community college study by Miami Dade College (FL) President Emeritus Robert McCabe, 41 percent of students entering community colleges are underprepared in at least one basic skill area. A three-year study of community college students, published in 2009 by the National Center for Education Statistics, reported that 41 percent…

The authors investigated how student-student friendships, student-teacher relationships, and attachment styles link to General Educational Development program completion among 127 women and 117 men. Students' relationships with students and instructors, as well as secure attachment style were positively associated with earning a GED. After…

Today's professional school counselors have many roles and tasks within the schools. As more children depend on the services of school counselors, well-trained counselors are needed to meet the demands. Data presented in this paper provide support for the production of professional school counselors in Alabama and the immediate southeastern area…

Program evaluations in the literature for evening classes generally fail to examine impact-related questions and focus instead on satisfaction with services and curricular offerings. This study examined the consequences for students if evening classes were not available. All student groups reported negative impacts on degree completion and…

This article reports on the trends in undergraduate economics degrees from 1991-2008. After three years of treading water, in 2008 undergraduate degrees in economics awarded by U.S. colleges and universities resumed the strong upward trajectory they exhibited from 1997 to 2004, when they rose 59 percent over seven years. The fastest growth in 2008…

The Eco-Interactional Developmental model of school success provides an understanding of the synergetic role that neighborhoods, schools, families, and peers can play in increasing the proportion of students who successfully complete high school. This article reviews the challenges involved in graduating high school students, presents the EID…

This study examines the events and behaviors associated with the improved and sustained student achievement in a rural high school. The rural high school highlighted in this study showed significant improvement and sustained achievement over a three year period as defined in the following areas: (a) test scores, (b) achievement of Adequate Yearly…

By explicitly naming education as one of three top priority areas in his first joint congressional address and in his first federal budget proposal, President Barack Obama is putting considerable political weight--and even more money--behind the agenda he laid out during his campaign. Certain themes he struck in the Feb. 24…

The need to educate a competitive workforce is a global problem. In the US, for example, despite billions of dollars spent to improve the educational system, approximately 35% of students never finish high school. The drop rate among some demographic groups is as high as 50-60%. At the college level in the US only 30% of students graduate from…

This article investigates several questions regarding the impact of different item formats on measurement characteristics. Constructed response (CR) items and multiple choice (MC) items obviously differ in their formats and in the resources needed to score them. As such, they have been the subject of considerable discussion regarding the impact of…

Over the last decade, New York City (NYC) has been the site of a systemwide high school reform effort that is unprecedented in its scope and pace. Since 2002, the school district has closed more than 20 failing high schools, opened more than 200 new secondary schools, and implemented a centralized high school admission process in which…

The relationship between educational attainment and economic outcomes is shaped by a variety of educational experiences, including field of training, length of time spent in school, and level of attainment. This report explores the relationship between educational attainment, field of training, and eventual occupation and earnings. The report also…