This analysis presents the public costs of high school dropouts in Oregon. It examines how dropouts in the state dramatically impact state finances through reduced tax revenues, increased Medicaid costs, and high incarceration rates. This study describes how much high school dropouts cost Oregon's tax-payers each year, and how much could be saved…

The Shott Foundation for Public Education recently published "Yes We Can: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males." This report focused on the exceedingly low graduation rate for Black males enrolled in schools around the nation. According to the report, the graduation rate for Black males in Miami-Dade County…

Elementary and secondary students can be impacted by a number of risk factors, all of which can have a negative influence on their academic success. To that end, the identification of risk factors is an important first step in closing achievement gaps. For example, clear evidence of an achievement gap can be found in Indiana's high school…

Among the earliest principles and premises of enrollment management as it evolved in concept and practice was that student retention is as critical as new student recruitment in achieving an institution's preferred enrollment profile. Over recent decades, student retention has been one of the most studied aspects of college enrollment dynamics,…

Numerous studies have found that minority students do experience insensitive if not discriminatory behavior on college campuses, and students who experience such behavior report lower levels of social integration and institutional commitment. However, there are at least two limitations to much of the campus climate literature. First, virtually all…

Recognizing that higher education is a market driven by consumer choice and reluctant to regulate college behavior directly, state and federal policymakers have created a host of college information disclosure and reporting requirements. Armed with better data, the theory goes, students and parents will vote with their wallets, putting pressure on…

The following study attempted to ascertain the instructional cost-effectiveness of public high school teachers towards high school completion through a financially based econometric analysis. Essentially, public high school instruction expenditures and completer data were collected from 2000 to 2007 and bivariate interaction analyzed through a…

This publication is dedicated to Chris Selby Smith, who was posthumously awarded the 2009 National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) VET Researcher of the Year Award. Selby Smith's body of work displayed many aspects of the excellence for which the award is offered. His experience working in both academia and the public service gave…

Most students who enter higher education through a community college fail to earn a postsecondary credential. One reason for this that has not received enough attention is that many students do not enter a college-level program of study. Many new students arrive at community colleges without clear goals for college and careers. Community colleges…

The issue of the "boy gap" or "boy crisis" in education has been the subject of increasing attention across a number of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. Given the importance of this issue and the need to better understand the situation in boys' education, this report draws on material and…

In 2006 Wisconsin policymakers identified the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) as the organization to help answer lingering questions about the effects of the MPCP [Milwaukee Parental Choice Program]. The SCDP is a national research organization, based in the University of Arkansas' Department of Education Reform, dedicated to the…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Obama Sets Timeline for NCLB Revamp: President Calls on Congress to Send Him an Education Reform Bill "Before…

Burgeoning student loan debt indicates problems not only for the country's borrowers but also for the postsecondary system. The rise in student loan defaults signifies a rise in institutional cohort default rates (CDRs)--a measure of accountability that informs the government and the general public how well an institution prepares its students for…

Research has shown that low graduation rates are a problem in high schools across the United States. The problem is significant at a small, inner-city charter high school in a southwestern US state that had a 2008 graduation rate of 34%. After assessing the situation, educators at this school developed the Credit Retrieval Program (CRP) to help…

Only a quarter of the class of 2008 graduated from Alain Locke Senior High School in Los Angeles after four years. This was unsurprising since nearly 60 percent of the class had left Locke by the end of their sophomore year. A majority of Locke teachers--frustrated with the school's mediocrity--petitioned to allow charter management organization…