In California, the typical college-prep course sequence in math includes Algebra I, Geometry, and Algebra II. Students advance through these courses at different rates. A number of students proceed at a quick pace, with some completing Algebra II by the end of 10th grade and a few even earlier. At the other end of the spectrum, some students…

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.…

High schools in the United States represent the stepping-off point to adulthood, the threshold for students to enter formal training in college, trade school, or the workforce. As our society faces increased demands for creative solutions, innovation, and a more technological workforce, the current high school model is simply antiquated. The Early…

This study examines the role of the college access intervention program College Bound as a means of building human capacity in underserved youth. The need to prepare underserved youth to remain competitive in a global economy gained momentum as a consequence of diminished national high school graduation rates and ineffective education public…

Retention and matriculation are topics of heavy debate and inquiry in higher education as rising tuition costs, coupled with declining state support, have fueled the need for increased accountability. In Mississippi, few studies have been conducted that are unique to the public universities in the state in order to analyze success factors in…

Admission policies and practices in higher education, including those in nursing programs, are diverse; yet administrators have traditionally relied upon preadmission academic achievement for selection of qualified students. Higher education administrators have the responsibility to serve the institution and all of its constituents, ensuring that…

The British Columbia post-secondary system is articulated or "seamless" in that it allows for students to make dynamic transitions into and through the system. But what types of transitions do students actually make? What level of student debt do they incur? What credentials do they earn and how do these credentials help them to secure…

Since 1997, four national studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education have been completed on the Federal TRIO programs. Data from these studies demonstrate that participation in a TRIO program has a significant impact on the educational outcomes of low-income, first-generation students and students with disabilities. This paper provides…

Performance funding in higher education ties state funding directly to institutional performance on specific indicators, such as rates of retention, graduation, and job placement. One of the great puzzles about performance funding is that it has been both popular and unstable. Between 1979 and 2007, 26 states enacted it, but 14 of those states…

This last report from Mathematica's evaluation of Upward Bound analyzes data from the final round of survey and transcript data collection as well as administrative records from the National Student Clearinghouse and the federal Student Financial Aid files. It provides the first estimates of the effects of Upward Bound on postsecondary completion.…