What kinds of challenges do educators face in increasing Native American high school graduation rates, and what kinds of adaptations to a traditional high school are understood as necessary to achieve this outcome? This case study explored these questions as part of a larger multiple case study that investigated practices and processes related to…

Background/Context: Two key uses of international assessments of achievement have been (a) comparing country performances for identifying the countries with the best education systems and (2) generating insights about effective policy and practice strategies that are associated with higher learning outcomes. Do country rankings really reflect the…

This report provides a new resource for understanding the state of urban public schools in the U.S. Geared specifically toward city leaders who want to evaluate how well traditional district and charter schools are serving all their city's children and how their schools compare to those in other cities, the report measures outcomes for all public…

A growing number of community colleges and four-year universities are seeking to improve student outcomes by redesigning academic programs and student support services following the guided pathways approach. These institutions are mapping out highly structured, educationally coherent program pathways for students to follow by starting with the end…

For the last 30 years, the Public Policy Forum has collected and analyzed education data to produce an annual report on the demographics, academic performance, and finances of public school districts in southeast Wisconsin. In the three decades of producing this report, few years have exhibited as much change and transformation as this one. The…

The Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) surveyed Chief Academic Officers at member institutions from July-October 2015 concerning priorities related to learning outcomes, assessment, general education design, high-impact practices, and data tracking and goal setting around equity and quality learning. With support from…

This report examines state and school district implementation of the Education for Homeless Children and Youth (EHCY) program, based on surveys of state EHCY coordinators and district homeless liaisons and analysis of extant data. The study included state and school district surveys to examine program implementation during the 2010-11 school year;…

Purpose: The purpose of this causal-comparative quantitative study was to examine the effect of Texas' Closing the Gaps by 2015 college readiness plan on graduation and persistence rates in community colleges. Specifically examined in this study were the graduation and persistence rates and the 4-year and 6-year graduation rates of Texas community…

New data show that a larger percentage of children in SREB (Southern Regional Education Board) states continue to live in poverty than in other regions of the country: 26 percent in 2010. That's 7.1 million children and 44 percent of all children in poverty in the nation. The increase in children living in poverty in SREB states from 2005 to 2010…

Current Year 12 students form the largest single group of Australian university admissions, comprising approximately half of all admissions at Australian universities. For those Year 12 students who continue to tertiary study at Australian universities, the courses studied in Year 12 play an important role in preparing them for that further…

The current study examines predictors of math achievement and college graduation by integrating social learning theory and expectancy-value theory. Data came from a nationally-representative longitudinal database tracking 12,144 students over twelve years from 8th grade forward. Models for math achievement and college graduation were tested…

Information gained from the present study should provide important policy insights into whether adjustments to the School District Finance and Quality Performance Accreditation (SDFQPA) Act funding formula have supported the original goal behind SDFQPA, which was to provide more equal funding to public elementary and secondary pupils in Kansas.…

Hispanics continue to play an increasing role in shaping American society, as they are currently the largest and youngest minority group and whose birth rate accounts for a quarter of all children born in the United States (Pew Hispanic Center, 2009). This increase in the total number of Hispanics will result in a corresponding increase in college…

"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) "Culture Shift": Preparing Students for Today's Demands Requires Shift to Learner-Centered Instruction…

Many different versions of Problem-based Learning (PBL) are used today. To be consistent in evaluating the effectiveness of PBL, the focus in this paper is on what Howard Barrows called authentic PBL (aPBL). In aPBL students are empowered with the learning process; key distinguishing features are that the students teach each other the new…