The largest gains in graduation rates over the past decade have been accomplished at open-access or nearly open-access colleges and universities. In addition, states could see even bigger increases if they directed their policies and supports toward improving graduation rates at these nonselective institutions. These findings from the author's…

The Foundation for Educational Choice recently commissioned a new study to examine the economic and social costs of Oregon's high school dropouts. Emily House, the study's author, analyzed how dropouts in the state dramatically impact state finances through reduced tax revenues, increased Medicaid costs, and high incarceration rates. House's study…

"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) A Common Understanding: Final K-12 Standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics Released on June 2; (2) "Diplomas Count":…

The Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) is the federal government's core postsecondary data collection program. Approximately 6,800 postsecondary schools are required to complete annual IPEDS surveys on topics including enrollment, graduation rates, and finances. As policymakers have sought additional data to increase…

Using data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System and College Results Online--a website that lets the public access a school's enrollment and graduation statistics on the basis of categories such as race, ethnicity, and gender--Education Trust or EdTrust, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that aims to close the gaps that keep many…

Debates about gender and schooling have taken a surprising turn in the past decade. After years of concern that girls were being shortchanged in male-dominated schools, especially in math and science, there has grown a rising chorus of voices worrying about whether boys are the ones in peril. With young women making up close to 60 percent of…

In this study, the authors examined the college-ready graduate rates of all students (n = 1,099 high schools) in the State of Texas for the 2006-2007 school year. Data were analyzed for students' scores in reading, in math, and in both subject areas combined. Approximately one-third of all students were determined to be college-ready in both…

By considering heterogeneity in abilities and self-selection in educational choice, this paper adopts the heterogeneous human capital model to estimate rate of return to university education using data from the 1990 and 2000 Taiwan's Manpower Utilization Surveys. The Taiwan empirical study shows that significant heterogeneous return to education…

Students who are in foster care need principals who are informed about policy, aware of their needs, and willing to be advocates for them. Multiple school placements often result in significant gaps in the education of students in foster care. If they also have disabilities, they may lose special programs and services when they change placements.…

According to the title of a Robert Fulghum book, all one really needs to know they learned in kindergarten (Fulghum, 1989). Evaluating the national high school graduation rates over the past thirty years, and noting the steady decline in these numbers, which accelerated in the 1990s (Wheelock & Miao, 2005), it would be easy to disagree with Mr.…

As more community colleges focus on using data to improve educational outcomes, many administrators are considering business intelligence applications that promise a path toward more informed decisions. Getting there, leaders say, requires more than installing some out-of-the-box solution; it requires changing the culture and finding skilled…

Spurred both by fiscal realities and momentum from the U.S. Department of Education's agenda for school improvement, local and state education leaders are moving forcefully and quickly to make big changes to districts and schools that have long struggled with low test scores and graduation rates. In Kansas City, Missouri, the school board voted…

In specifying a minimum passing score on examinations that students must pass to obtain a high school diploma, states divide a continuous performance measure into dichotomous categories. Thus, students with scores near the cutoff either pass or fail despite having essentially equal skills. The authors evaluate the causal effects of barely passing…

There has been a discernable focus within many Australian industries on improving the rates of completion amongst their apprentices and trainees. This paper outlines the results of a study which involved a multivariate analysis of data relating to apprenticeship and traineeship completion, derived from a database developed by the Victorian…

Academic analytics helps address the public's desire for institutional accountability with regard to student success, given the widespread concern over the cost of higher education and the difficult economic and budgetary conditions prevailing worldwide. Purdue University's Signals project applies the principles of analytics widely used in…