There is widespread concern, both in the private and public sectors, about perceived declines in U.S. college graduates in STEM fields. In our sample, the proportion of science majors has remained steady over the sample period; however, the number entering our college intending to major in STEM fields has fallen. In this paper we use…

The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to publish high school graduation rates for public schools; the U.S. Department of Education is currently considering a mandate to standardize high school graduation rate reporting. However, no consensus exists among researchers or policymakers about how to measure high school graduation rates. We use…

This article utilizes social movement theory to analyze policy change created by site-based educators. The author uses a qualitative case study to examine how an organization comprised of teachers and administrators in New York State used protest to protect a waiver, which exempted students in their schools from having to pass statewide graduation…

Intellectual disability has been considered a high incidence disability in special education since the inception of the field in the United States. The purpose of this article is to evaluate current educational programs and practices for students who historically and commonly have been referred to as having mild mental retardation. The article…

Growing accountability pressures, accompanied by a lack of readily accessible measures of institutional performance, have led to an increasing focus on graduation rates. Although previous research has illuminated myriad factors influencing students' likelihood of educational success, it has not paid adequate attention to how state contexts may…

In districts with Hispanic populations, English language learning is a priority, particularly in the elementary grades, which many students enter still speaking Spanish as their primary language. In affiliation with the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), a private, non-profit organization focused on reducing poverty and discrimination and…

The STEM fields, otherwise known as the Sciences, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics areas, have become the focus of multiple studies and funding initiatives in recent years. Despite these efforts, lingering concerns exist about who enters, who is retained, and who completes the doctorate in STEM fields. This study utilizes discrete-time…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) at the U.S. Department of Education developed the Graduation Rate Survey (GRS) to help institutions comply with the "Student Right-to-Know (SRTK) Act" requirements. NCES uses GRS data to calculate graduation rates within 150 percent of normal time for all students in the GRS cohort, as…

Kentucky's public and independent postsecondary institutions are graduating another historic class in 2009. Total degrees and credentials awarded this spring increased 7 percent over last year and an impressive 40 percent in the past five years. Other highlights include: (1) Increases were seen in all sectors and at virtually all institutions.…

The purpose of this paper is to promote clearer understanding of the graduation-rate debate by distilling the policy developments and controversy surrounding the measurement of these rates over the last decade. The paper concludes with a discussion of the move toward a federally mandated common metric for graduation rates. The No Child Left Behind…

State Compensatory Education (SCE) is a supplemental program designed to eliminate disparities in (a) student performance on assessment instruments administered under chapter 39 of the Texas Education Code (1995, amended 2007), and (b) the rates of high school completion between students who are at risk of dropping out of school, as defined by…

Almost everyone knows what the term "achievement gap" means, although the key to closing it remains elusive. Despite efforts spanning a decade or more, the disparity in test scores, graduation rates, and other indicators of academic success separating many students of color from many of their white and Asian peers has not been eliminated. In a…

The California State University campus at Long Beach graduated 8,720 students last month. Each one got the opportunity to walk the stage, and F. King Alexander, the university's president, shook every hand. California State at Long Beach has made graduating a greater number of its 38,000 students its top priority. The slogan "Graduation…

Students' engagement at school has emerged as a critical factor across hundreds of dropout prevention and recovery programs in the United States. By supporting and improving academic, behavioral, cognitive, and emotional engagement, we can mitigate the risk of dropping out. This article describes the history of school dropout, predictors of…

School social workers often face challenges of having to legitimize their presence as a school professional, especially as compared to school psychologists and school counselors. Why are school social workers more often vulnerable to being underappreciated and not understood by school personnel than other mental health-based school professionals?…