"Education Indicators in Focus" is a recurring series of briefs that highlight specific indicators in "OECD's Education at a Glance" that are of particular interest to policy makers and practitioners. They provide a detailed look into current issues in pre-primary, primary and secondary education, higher education, and adult outcomes from a global…

From 2008 to 2011, the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) worked with six states (Arkansas, Colorado, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, and South Dakota) to improve policies and practices to increase adult degree completion as a way to raise overall state educational attainment levels. With funding from Lumina Foundation,…

There is increasing demand on the education sector to produce high-quality, actionable information to inform decisions aimed at improving student achievement. Unfortunately, every state currently lacks the out-of-state data necessary to follow individuals systemically and efficiently across state lines. The absence of appropriate out-of-state data…

The senior year of high school has long been considered a lost year, a time when many students have earned most of their high school credits and have been accepted into college. With few requirements and little pressure, students often slack off in a common affliction known as "senioritis." The year of slacking off, however, may have…

This case exemplifies the unintended divisive cause and effect dynamic that can occur as a direct result of a seemingly innocuous school board policy modification. A change in school board policy at a local school district in Laredo, Texas, was designed to facilitate the fulfillment of a foreign language requirement for high school students. A…

The Canadian education system is failing its Aboriginal students as evidenced by the significant proportion not completing high school. The Aboriginal population has experienced a significantly greater proportion of people living in poverty and higher rates of unemployment than has the non-Aboriginal population. These factors can be linked to the…

This article focuses on a small urban high school that developed a culture devoted to caring for their historically underserved students. Interviews with school founders, teachers, and alumni, as well as observations of classrooms and professional activities, revealed the high school attended to the affective needs of their students, which…

The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects an increase in Natural Resource Management (NRM) jobs within the next 10 years due to baby-boomer retirements and a 12% increase in demand for these occupations. Despite this trend, college enrollment in NRM disciplines has declined. Even more critical is the fact that the soon-to-be-majority Hispanic…

In 2007 the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation placed a major bet on State University of New York at Stony Brook: $1.7-million to enroll 10,000 students in its news-literacy curriculum over five years. Alberto Ibarguen, president and chief executive of the foundation, expected the course to foster "a group of students who would simply…

Every college and university, whether public or private; two-year, four-year, or graduate; traditional or online, depends on recruiting and enrolling new students and strives to have as many of those students as possible complete their educational programs. Knowing how effectively an institution is managing the various stages of enrollment is…

Results link lower student-to-school-counselor ratios to better graduation rates and lower disciplinary incidents across Missouri high schools. An interaction favorable for promoting student success in school was found between increasing percentages of students receiving free or reduced-price lunch and smaller student-to-school-counselor ratios.…

Research was undertaken to determine whether comparable grading standards are used in evaluating student performance at two-year community colleges and four-year universities. Examination of academic records of 417 students who took college level math at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in fall 2009 compared the performance of those who…

Since 2002, the Center on Education Policy (CEP), an independent nonprofit organization, has been studying state high school exit examinations--tests students must pass to receive a high school diploma. This is CEP's ninth annual report on exit exams. The information in this report comes from several sources: CEP's survey of states that have…

This review examines a research study that compares high school graduation rates of students who used vouchers to attend private high schools in Milwaukee and students who attended public high schools in that same city. The study reports that for the most recent year of data, a sample of voucher students had estimated graduation rates 12…

What are school staff to do when inspiration strikes but the funding to carry out a vision is lacking? This was the dilemma faced by the staff of the Emotional Disability Services Unit (ED Unit) in the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) in Maryland. The ED Unit serves 350 students who experience significant emotional challenges that impair…