When Superintendent Denise Juneau took office in 2009, there were 2,423 students who dropped out of school, and Montana had a dropout rate of 5.1 percent. Inspired by the early successes of the Graduation Matters Missoula initiative, Superintendent Juneau launched Graduation Matters Montana in 2010. Graduation Matters Montana is a statewide effort…

Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

Previous high school research has highlighted the importance of students' freshman year. Limited research has supported the implementation of a smaller learning community, also known as a freshman academy. The theoretical framework of the study was based on stage environment fit, adolescence development and smaller learning community theories. The…

This report describes the universe, methods, and editing procedures used in the 2011-12 Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data collection. IPEDS data consist of basic statistics on postsecondary institutions regarding tuition and fees, number and types of degrees and certificates conferred, number of students enrolled, number…

When Valencia College became the first recipient of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence last month, an unsung sector earned uncommon recognition. Now that the speeches are over and the prize money has been awarded, the Aspen Institute is sharing early lessons from its yearlong effort to determine the top community college in the…

Teachers and administrators have access to large volumes of data but research suggests that they lack the skills to use data effectively for continuous school improvement. This study involved a cross-case analysis of two high school leadership teams' early stages of evidence-based practice development; differing forms of external support were…

The cost of higher education continues to climb, while calls for increased institutional accountability and the value of a "four-year degree" are ever present. This research sought to identify factors by which consumers might predict four-year graduation rates at institutions within the CCCU. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis of data…

The goal of "college-for-all" in the United States has been pursued in an environment of rising tuition, stagnant grant aid and already strapped family budgets with the gap filled by college loans. College students are thus facing increasing levels of debt as they seek to develop their human capital and improve their career options. Debt…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of participation in workplace learning among senior secondary students in Australia. Work placements are deemed to be effective if they meet policy objectives of improving student transitions by (a) enhancing Year 12 completion rates and (b) increasing the engagement of…

The Ingenuity program was designed to "provide Baltimore's brightest middle school students with a free, highly accelerated, and challenging mathematics and science curriculum" (Ingenuity Project, 2014). It started in 1993 at two middle schools, one on the east side of Baltimore and the second on the west, but as of SY 2014-15 the…

Beginning in January of 2012, the Alabama State Board of Education embarked on a bold and transformation plan for K-12 public education known as PLAN 2020. Foundational to this plan was a new definition of a successful and prepared high school graduate informed by community colleges, institutions of higher education, and business and industry,…

This report describes the characteristics of students with disabilities in Utah public schools, and presents the single-year mobility and dropout rates for students in grades 6-12, as well as the four-year cohort dropout and graduation rates, for students who started grade 9 for the first time in 2007/08 and constituted the 2011 cohort. Results…

The USHE Data Book is a compilation of reports on the Utah System of Higher Education and its eight component institutions. Some form of this book has been published each year since the creation of the Utah State Board of Regents and the Utah System of Higher Education in 1969. The book is intended to allow the Governor's Office, Legislators and…

The State University System 2025 Strategic Plan strengthens the Board of Governors' commitment to achieving excellence in the tripartite mission of its state universities--teaching, research, and public service--for the benefit of Florida's citizens, their communities, and the state economy. The Strategic Plan is a living document that helps align…

The "Study of Deeper Learning: Opportunities and Outcomes", funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, is a "proof-of-concept" study to determine whether students attending high schools with a mature and at least moderately well-implemented approach to promoting deeper learning experience greater deeper learning…