In 2012, Black students dropped out of school at a rate of 7.5% (NCES, 2013a). While this is the second lowest dropout rate for this population in 55 years, Black students are still dropping out at nearly twice the rate (4.3%) of their White counterparts. This paper includes a review of literature related to this phenomenon and offers…

High-stakes testing has been a part of American education since its inception. The laws that govern the use of high-stakes tests include language that mandates the inclusion of students in special education. These laws play an influential role in the new large-scale assessments aligned with the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The assessments…

Despite increasing enrollment percentages from earlier years, online courses continue to show receding student retention rates. To reduce attrition and ensure continual growth in online courses, it is important to continue to review current and updated literature to understand the changing behaviors of online learners and faculty in the 21st…

This qualitative study explored the perceptions that instructors and students have of online learning in a Texas-Mexico border community college. Use of the interpretive approach and dialogical exchange through semi-structured interviews conducted with both instructors and students from a rural, border community college revealed multiple and…

School suspension rates have been rising since the early 1970s, especially for children of color. One body of research has demonstrated that suspension from school is harmful to students, as it increases the risk of retention and school dropout. Another has demonstrated that school dropouts impose huge social costs on their states and localities,…

The mission of the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) Career and Technical Education (CTE) program is to empower students with the academic and technical skills needed to strengthen the economic and social foundation of the city of Houston and beyond. The program's goals and objectives focus on preparing students for success in their…

This rubric can help schools or districts address success gaps that exist between groups of their students, such as gaps in test scores or graduation rates between students with disabilities and other students. The rubric allows a team of users from a school or district to systematically examine the root causes of a success gap by focusing on…

The acquisition of programming skills specially in introductory programming courses poses an important challenge for freshmen students of engineering programs. These courses require students to devote a sustained effort during the whole course and a failure to do so may contribute to not passing the course. However, it is difficult for the…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of compiling, analyzing, and summarizing the data for Indicator 2--Dropout--from the FFY 2010 Annual Performance Reports (APRs) and the revised State Performance Plans (SPPs), which were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP)…

Background/Context: The academic success and failure of low-income youth, and Black and Latina/o youth in particular, has received significant attention in the educational literature, particularly in relation to school dropout. Over the last decade, several studies have demonstrated that student-teacher relationships, committed teachers, and…

In recent discussions regarding concerns about the academic achievement of US students, educational policy makers have suggested the implementation of certain teacher policies. To address the limited empirical research on the putative educational impact of such policies, this study used multilevel structural equation models to investigate the…

Concerned about the persistently high dropout rates from big-city secondary schools, education leaders are trying a new approach to increasing the graduation rate--multiple pathways to graduation. Multiple pathways initiatives are relatively new and far from proven. Even the most advanced examples face significant issues, i.e., the need to…

What are the qualities of classroom, school, and district processes and practices in rural high schools with higher-than average graduation rates? How do these processes and practices compare with rural schools with histories of average graduation rates? In this study, six schools were sampled for a multiple case study of rural high school…

In a time when graduation rates are showing notable improvement among students of color and students with disabilities, there are still great challenges that remain. The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities has published a monograph that explores the problem of high school dropout rates among American Indian, African…

For the data presented in this report, the author analyzed 17,587 Black, Hispanic, and White male and female students (Black males; N = 1,149) who completed the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (Ingels et al., 2011). This is a brief report from a larger study completed under the auspices of the National Dropout Prevention Center for Students…