Educational progress has been moving in the right direction for several years in Alabama. Now, with the implementation of Alabama's own Plan 2020, an even higher level of accountability for students, teachers, administrators, support systems, and schools/school systems, Alabama is poised to experience unprecedented growth. Add to that, the Alabama…

In Texas, there is an increase in the enrollment of men of various ethnicities in nursing schools, especially Associate Degree Nursing (ADN) programs. As these men strive to complete the nursing education, they face many concerns that center on barriers that are encountered in what is still a predominately Caucasian and female environment. In…

The published prices on which the analysis in "Trends in College Pricing" is based come from data reported by institutions on the College Board's Annual Survey of Colleges. This survey, which is distributed to nearly 4,000 postsecondary institutions across the country, collects a wealth of data on enrollment, admission, degrees and…

This report updates a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. The report includes national and regional population estimates for the percentage of students who dropped out of high school between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of young people who were dropouts in 2009, and the percentage of young people…

The School Improvement Grants (SIG) program, which was created in 2002, funds reforms in the country's lowest-performing schools with the goal of improving student outcomes, such as standardized test scores and graduation rates. Congress greatly increased SIG program funding from $125 million available in fiscal year 2007--the first year the…

This Brief summarizes a study that addresses the impact of remedial and developmental courses on students with a range of levels of preparedness. Using longitudinal data from Tennessee, the authors estimate the effects of placement into varying levels of mathematics, reading, and writing courses for students attending public two- and four-year…

In March, 2009, President Obama proposed the American Graduation Initiative, which established the goal that by 2020 the United States will regain its position as the nation with the highest percentage of its population holding post-secondary degrees and credentials. The College Completion Toolkit provides information that governors and other…

This report profiles the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) Escalera Program: Taking Steps to Success, a Latino-serving, community-based youth workforce development program, which was developed in 2001 in partnership with the PepsiCo Foundation and PepsiCo, Inc. and expanded in 2008 with the support of Shell Oil Company. The Escalera Program:…

This is the second in a series of briefs summarizing findings from the newest and most rigorous research related to racial and socioeconomic diversity in public schools. The studies on which this brief is based were published recently in three special issues of the peer-reviewed journal, "Teachers College Record," edited by Professors…

This is the third in a series of briefs summarizing findings from the newest and most rigorous research related to racial and socioeconomic diversity in public schools. The studies on which this brief is based were published recently in three special issues of the peer-reviewed journal, "Teachers College Record," edited by Professors…

"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) Waiving Goodbye to NCLB?: U.S. Education Secretary Discusses Options to Grant Relief from NCLB's Requirements In…

This report provides information on the retention, graduation, and transfer rates of first-time, full-time students at Maryland community colleges from 1998-2008. The report examines retention and graduation data for students two, three and four years after matriculation into a community college. The data are presented for the state, by each…

As colleges and universities face pressure to expand enrollments and provide access to diverse students, they find it difficult to recruit and retain first-generation college students (FGS). First-generation college students are significantly less likely to graduate due to lack of family support, financial strains, poor academic preparation, and…

Over the last decade, New York City has been the site of a systemwide high school reform effort that is unprecedented in its scope and pace. Since 2002, the school district has closed more than 20 failing high schools, opened more than 200 new secondary schools, and implemented a centralized high school admission process in which approximately…

In this article, the author examined the AG by noting that the NAEP reported math scores among 17-year-olds is upwardly biased when compared with the scores of this same cohort 4 years earlier when they were 13 years old. It is upwardly biased because an important event happens over the 4-year period between 8th and 12th grade--a large percentage…