This report is one of several efforts designed to monitor outcomes in Washington's higher education system, and fulfills the biennial requirement that the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) inform the higher education and fiscal committees of the legislature of progress toward goals. The portrait that emerges from this review of…

This study examines the effect of an increase in minimum admissions standards on college enrollment and graduation rates of student-athletes. In 1996, the NCAA enacted Proposition 16, which increased the admission standards for freshmen student-athletes at Division I schools in an effort to improve graduation rates. Results indicate that…

Since 2002, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) has attempted to reverse the city's severe drop-out crisis through a large scale restructuring of high schools, focused mainly on closing large, comprehensive high schools and replacing them with small high schools that offer a more personalized learning environment. Unfortunately, this…

This article presents findings from a qualitative study examining the similarities and differences between American Indian/Alaska Native student perceptions and the perceptions of state representatives, university presidents, and faculty about persistence factors and barriers to degree completion specific to American Indian/Alaska Native students…

Little attention has been paid to the role of peer social capital in the school context, especially as a predictor of adolescents' academic outcomes. This study uses a nationally representative (N = 13,738, female = 51%), longitudinal sample and multilevel models to examine how peer networks impact educational achievement and attainment. Results…

The integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary interventions through positive behavior supports (PBS) can provide benefit for students, staff, and families (Bohanon et al., 2006; Turnbull et al., 2002). However, there is limited application of PBS to high schools settings (Sugai, Flannery, & Bohanon, 2004). However, preliminary data is…

Controversies over graduation rates and No Child Left Behind have raged in research, media and political circles for almost a year. All too often, though, when complex issues of social and economic importance collide with policy and politics, heat is generated but little light. As a result, it may be difficult for local educators to parse the…

By 2008, according to this policy brief, half the states are likely to have adopted high-school exit exams. These exams, which students must pass to graduate, are part of state accountability systems and are above and beyond the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. This brief discusses high-school exit exams. It begins with answers to…

When U.S. News & World Report began its ranking of American colleges in 1983, publishers in other countries quickly followed with their own hierarchical measures, providing consumer information (and opportunities for institutional marketing) while attempting to impact the quality of higher education. In the course of the last two decades,…

This Brief summarizes a study by the Community College Research Center (CCRC) that investigated the nature and validity of the SRK rates for community colleges by analyzing data on students attending Florida's 28 community colleges. It sought to determine whether the rates provide useful information that can guide educators and policymakers…

In 2003, the Lumina Foundation for Education assembled several dozen of the nation's leading experts on community colleges. They wanted to discuss raising transfer and graduation rates, particularly those of minority and low-income students, at two-year colleges. They wanted to build a campus-based movement to increase community colleges'…

Many constituencies of a college or university make contributions to student success and failure. Higher education research has focused on many contributors to college or university student success, including pre-college preparation, transition or orientation programs, academic rigor, and academic and social support systems to name a few. Our…

This article assesses the educational attainment of African American males between the 1990s and early 2000s. Beginning with a summary of a 1987-88 study conducted by the author on African American males in the New Orleans Public Schools, national data are provided on the high school graduation rates of African American males and females, as well…

Rhode Island has recently mandated a new kind of arts requirement for high school graduation that involves proving proficiency in one of four art forms: music, visual art, theater, or dance. How the state came to mandate this law, how proficiency is currently defined and assessed in dance, and what effects the cuts in arts education funding will…

Indianapolis Mayor Bart Peterson has laid down a bold challenge to the city's troubled public school system: improve or see your students migrate to the city's growing roster of impressive charter schools. This is no idle threat. In the 2006-2007 academic year, the mayor oversaw 16 charter schools serving 3,870 students. Peterson is currently the…