This study was an attempt to provide information about the growing number of adult students who leave postsecondary education without a degree. Little has been done to improve the success rate of adult students, largely because so little information is available about why these students do not persist to graduation. The study looked at 295…

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) and the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) are pleased to present a copy of the fourth annual Jacqueline P. Danzberger Memorial Lecture, presented at NSBA's Annual Conference (March 2004). The lecturer, Mrs. Melinda French Gates, Co-Founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, asserted…

Raising graduation rates for students attending schools in the United States is a national priority. As part of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools are required to track and report the percentage of students who graduate with a regular diploma in four years. The magnitude of the problem for student subgroups (including students of Hispanic and…

This brief reports on WestEd's review of California's graduation rate. It examines the methodological debate, provides comparisons between California and other states, and shows California results by race and ethnicity (including data from several of the state's large school districts). Finally, it draws three conclusions: (1) the state's…

This issue of California Counts explores educational resources and outcomes across racial and ethnic groups in the state. Family and school resources, student outcomes, and public policy initiatives affecting California's students from early childhood through university are examined. Several factors that potentially contribute to racial and ethnic…

Compares segmentation modeling and logistic regression with regard to a longitudinal study of graduation rates at Ohio State University Agricultural Technical Institute. Suggests that segmentation modeling is as effective as the regression techniques in terms of predictive ability, but that segmentation modeling offers a distinct advantage in…

Tracked five cohorts of first-year students for 6 years to determine how many, by gender and race, were academically suspended, how many of those returned, and of those who returned, how many graduated. Found that a greater percentage of males than females and Black than White students were academically suspended. Minority males were the most…

Studied prediction of college freshman performance and graduation in U.S. colleges by examining aggregated data at the institutional level for 1,429 4-year institutions. Results suggest that persistence to graduation as a characteristic of student populations at a college can be predicted better than persistence at the individual level at a given…

Major national policy statements driving the school reform movement ignore potential of interscholastic athletic programs for improving public education. A decline in public support for athletics, the "back to basics" movement, and athletics' traditional financial vulnerability point to an uncertain future. Research shows that athletic programs…

To determine the impact on the academic mission, the models in this study test whether there is statistical evidence that student graduation rates or alumni giving rates are influenced by pigskin or hoop success for major universities after adjustment for key academic variables. Using a sample of big-time sports universities and models comparable…

Increasing the participation of minority groups at public colleges and universities is a longstanding goal of the Board of Governors for Higher Education, as first outlined in its 1983 "Strategic Plan to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Connecticut Public Higher Education." The minority groups defined by the plan are:…

Dropping out of high school is related to a number of negative outcomes. For example, the average income of persons ages 18 through 65 who had not completed high school was roughly $20,100 in 2005.1 By comparison, the average income of persons ages 18 through 65 who completed their education with a high school credential, including a General…

Many countries that have undergone expansion of access to public education still face significant disparities in school enrollment and attendance rates at sub-national levels, and fail to reach a high proportion of children who are outside of the government system. Completion and student learning have also continued to be system-wide challenges…

Richard Murnane observes that the American ideal of equality of educational opportunity has for years been more the rhetoric than the reality of the nation's political life. Children living in poverty, he notes, tend to be concentrated in low-performing schools staffed by ill-equipped teachers. They are likely to leave school without the skills…

Today's high school graduates are entering a world in which they will need at least some college to gain access to decent-paying careers, according to the 2007 edition of "Diplomas Count." Those without even a high school diploma will face increasingly bleak labor-market prospects. This report, "Ready for What? Preparing Students…