Fingertip Facts is a compendium of some of the most frequently requested data sets from the Utah State Office of Education. This year's Fingertip Facts includes the following data sets: (1) RISE Testing, 2018-19; (2) Utah ASPIRE Testing, 2018-19; (3) 2019 Utah ACT Scores; (4) CTE Career Pathways; (5) 2019 Public Education General Fund; (6) 2019…

This report includes findings regarding demographic characteristics and academic outcomes of DELTA students; highlights emerging topics from the student, teacher, and staff surveys; and provides recommendations for future program implementation. [For the 2018-2019 report, see ED626017.]

In his 1918 orienting work, The Higher Learning in America, Veblen highlights two primary aims of the higher education institution: (a) scientific and scholarly inquiry, and (b) the instruction of students (Veblen, 1918). As of 2006, this overarching mission remained intact. In contemporary literature, a common measure of the efficacy of the…

High school graduation rates nationally have declined in recent years, despite public and private efforts. The purpose of the current study was to determine whether practice of the Quiet Time/Transcendental Meditation® program at a medium-size urban school results in higher school graduation rates compared to students who do not receive training…

This mixed methods study focused on the relationship between dropout prevention programs and graduation rates in one school district in Florida during the 2010-2011 school year. The dropout prevention program data analyzed included high school principals' perceptions in regard to perceived effectiveness, fidelity of implementation, cost efficacy,…

A first-year experience is a collaborative effort of many initiatives, with varying names that have the greatest impact on student success during the first year of college. A first-year experience course, a feature of the first-year experience, is an intervention program designed to increase student academic performance and integration (Braxton…

The Community College Completion Agenda is the West Virginia Community and Technical College System's (WVCTCS) commitment to awarding 16,000 new degrees by 2015. With this new completion agenda the West Virginia Community and Technical College System has realigned its master plan, Meeting the Challenge 2010-2015. Its focus from primarily…

In contemporary America, postsecondary education has now become almost a prerequisite for anyone wishing to matriculate into a higher socioeconomic class. Over the last five decades there has been a steady increase in the number of high school students entering college and university, with now over 75% of high school graduates enrolling in some…

The primary purpose of this study was to understand how three diverse community colleges are interpreting and acting on federal initiatives to increase completion rates. The study attempted to answer four main research questions: (1) How do a selection of Kansas community colleges, as organizations, interpret the initiative to increase completion…

President Obama's 2009 graduation initiative has emphasized the shift in the national academic focus from access to higher education to graduation, making degree attainment one of the most important factors of measurement and accountability for institutions of higher education. Students of color, in particular, Hispanic males, have not fared well…

In this brief, the authors have corralled existing research to make the point that while on average the return to college is highly positive, there is a considerable spread in the value of going to college. A bachelor's degree is not a smart investment for every student in every circumstance. The authors have outlined three important steps…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine and report how four school leaders in a mid-sized, Mid-Atlantic high school created an environment that improved achievement levels, increased graduation rates, and reduced drop-out rates for Black male students. The researcher utilized a qualitative case study design which included…

This quantitative ex post facto study examined how race and gender, as elements of culture, influence the development of common misconceptions among STEM students. Primary data came from a standardized test: the Digital Logic Concept Inventory (DLCI) developed by Drs. Geoffrey L. Herman, Michael C. Louis, and Craig Zilles from the University of…

Background/Context: Student utilization of complex enrollment patterns has been identified as a significant recent development in higher education. Nearly a dozen different multi-institutional attendance patterns have been identified, including co-enrollment. Co-enrollment is simultaneous enrollment at two or more colleges or universities during…

This article describes original research to determine reasons graduate students do not complete requirements for a Master's (M.Ed.) in Middle Level Education degree at the Southeastern University. Since the program's initial cohort the graduation rate has decreased. Program faculty was concerned about the increasing difference between the number…