The New Jersey law permitting a period of silence in schools was struck down by a federal court judge who held that the law was intended to circumvent the proscription against government entanglement in religion. The New York Supreme Court has upheld the competency test for obtaining high school diplomas. (MLF)

One district's policies placing greater demands on seniors in terms of graduation requirements, attendance, grading, final exams, time in school, and required courses are recommended as a solution to student boredom; tactics considered counterproductive are listed. (MJL)

The averaged freshman graduation rate provides an estimate of the percentage of high school students who graduate on time. The rate uses aggregate student enrollment data to estimate the size of an incoming freshman class and aggregate counts of the number of diplomas awarded 4 years later. The incoming freshman class size is estimated by summing…

This Fact Sheet provides statistical data on the high school dropout rates for 16- to 19-year-olds in the United States, with a particular emphasis on Latino students, both immigrant and native-born. Although the percentage of youth who have not finished high school and are not enrolled in school, known as the "status" dropout rate, has…

This report uses data primarily from the 2004 Graduation Rate Survey (GRS), a component of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), to provide a systemwide overview of how graduation rates of comparable 4-year institutions vary with institution selectivity and the size of the low-income population enrolled. The report clearly…

It has been found that students who took the traditional path to a bachelor degree--those who started and finished at the same institution--averaged 4.3 years to complete their degrees at State University System (SUS) institutions in 2002-03. 12.4% took 3.5 years or less, 54.2% took 4 years or less, 69.5% took 4.5 years or less, and 86.5% took 5…

This report responds to the California Postsecondary Education Commission's interest in pursuing further study of the gender gap for males in California postsecondary education. It provides some additional data on the gap in K-12 graduation rates and university eligibility and discusses the implications for future workforce needs. Recommended…

This essay explores the importance of college access and completion for all students. Two decades ago a ticket to the middle class could be purchased with a high school diploma, but now that ticket requires a college degree. When it comes to college attendance and graduation, statistics show that students of color and low-income students lag…

The major goal of a study sponsored by the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association was to provide information about the state of history education in each of the United States, to be used constructively to appraise and improve school-based history education. This report addresses teacher certification in…

The educational effectiveness of community colleges is under new scrutiny as a result of both a federal government focus on accountability of higher education institutions and greater competition for the state funds traditionally directed to the colleges. Policymakers, who want to tie public college allocations to their outcomes, and families,…

The study compares the degree completion and persistence rates between two cohorts?students who first enrolled in postsecondary education in academic year 1989?90 and their counterparts who first enrolled in 1995?96. The analysis focuses on the rates at which students in each cohort completed a degree within 5 years or were still enrolled at the…

In 1996, the California Community College Board of Governors (BOG) issued a policy statement identifying information competency as a priority. Recognizing information competency as an academic and professional matter, in May 1999 the Chancellor delegated the issue of information competency as a graduation requirement to the Academic Senate for…

This report presents final school completion outcome data on class of 1998 students in New York City public schools as of June 2001, noting separate outcomes for the 1998 special education class. The overall class of 1998 graduation rate was 69.5 percent. Approximately half of the students who continued their education beyond 4 years of high…

This document is designed to assist classroom teachers in preparing students to successfully complete the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE). It consists of activities that are correlated with the Alabama Course of Study: Mathematics, Bulletin 1997, No. 4, and Standards and Objectives (Reading Comprehension, Language, Mathematics, and…

This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2002 and 2003, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three decades, and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts…