For seventeen years an underlying rationale for Milwaukee's private school voucher program has been that competition from private schools is needed to bring about improvements in Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). However, despite an increased availability of vouchers for more eligible children than ever before, demand during the past school year did…

While California has made substantial progress in easing its teacher shortage and reducing the concentration of the least prepared teachers in the lowest achieving schools, the effort to strengthen schools for all students is hampered by the large number of teachers who leave the profession prematurely. Policymakers at the state and local levels…

This article discusses a program at John Adams High School in New York City that helps students who have fallen behind acquire the credits they need to graduate, while still enabling them to hold a job and meet family obligations. The program is one of 20 Young Adult Borough Centers operated by the New York City Department of Education in…

This publication contains a sample of the indicators in "The Condition of Education 2009." The indicators include: (1) Enrollment Trends by Age; (2) Reading Performance and Achievement Gaps; (3) Mathematics Performance and Achievement Gaps; (4) Reading and Mathematics Score Trends; (5) Annual Earnings of Young Adults; (6) Public High…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides several funding opportunities that can assist states in designing, developing, and implementing statewide education longitudinal data systems. These new and enhanced information systems will enable states to track student progress within and across the secondary and postsecondary education…

Significant attention and resources have been focused on reforming high schools to enhance graduation rates. The research literature supports the following practices: (1) For struggling students, accurate identification and intensive instructional, monitoring, and counseling support; (2) For 9th graders, transition activities, personalization, and…

A study examined whether the Career Intern Program (CIP) can be replicated in new sites at reasonable cost within a reasonable period of time. (The CIP is an alternative high school designed to enable disadvantaged and alienated dropouts or potential dropouts to earn regular high school diplomas, to prepare them for meaningful employment or…

The National Dropout Prevention Center for Students with Disabilities (NDPC-SD) was assigned the task of summarizing Indicator 2--Dropout--for the analysis of the 2005-2010 State Performance Plans (SPP), which were submitted to the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in December of 2005. The text of the indicator is as follows: Percent of…

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) "Special Education at a Glance," which includes a copy of the "Guide to Planning and Assessing School-Based Special Education Programs," provides in a single document, information about the special education population at each Montgomery County (Maryland public school, including…

In a more consistent and viable manner than ever before, education in Alabama is moving toward its ultimate goal of providing every student with a quality education, thereby preparing them for work, college, and life after high school. Alabama's graduation rates from 2002 to 2008 increased significantly, tripling the national average increase and…

This book provides an overview of a 4-year longitudinal study of senior secondary schooling in the government high schools of New South Wales, Australia. The study followed the progress from year 9 to year 12 of 3,000 students from 22 government secondary schools in 2 metropolitan and 2 nonmetropolitan regions. The book is divided into 10…

This document reports findings of eight Virginia adult educators who designed and conducted research projects within their programs. Abstracts and bibliographies appear first. "Why Tutors Do What They Do" (Karen Cook, Jean Dooley, Charles Fuller) examines responses of volunteer literacy tutors to questions about their expectations and…

This document describes the With and For Parents program, a dropout prevention program focusing on parent involvement. Although not a conventional guidebook, this document can serve as a guide to the world of the urban disadvantaged through its recollection of program experiences. With and For Parents began in 1987 with 156 families of incoming…

The ALANA (Asian, Latin, African, and Native American) Mentoring Program was established at Saint Clair County Community College, in Port Huron, Michigan, to address the identity issues facing ALANA freshmen through peer mentoring. Mentors provide social and academic support, support students in thinking critically and role playing, and directly…

Educational practices in tracking and ability grouping are reviewed, and it is suggested that cooperative learning strategies are effective alternatives for students who need preparation for the challenges of citizenship in the future. Research studies have given rise to many criticisms of tracking, particularly as it relates to minorities,…