Identifies the textbooks professors use in education law courses, based on a survey of 110 members of the Education Law Association during 1996-97. Almost half preferred Alexander and Alexander's "American School Law," with McCarthy and Caqmbron-McCabe's "Public School Law" a close second. Only 44% required or suggested additional nontextbook…

Service learning is not immune from legal problems. In 1993, the third Circuit Court of Appeals quashed a lawsuit claiming a school's mandatory public-service requirement violated the 1st and 13th amendments. The most recent case was pursued against a New York district whose modest public-service requirement supposedly forced students into…

Analysis of placement and exit data on students with mental retardation (MR) found in annual reports on implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act indicated an upward trend in educating students with mental retardation in general education classrooms, a decline in graduation rates with a diploma or certificate, and a greater…

Key components of state high-stakes testing are analyzed in light of major federal statutes and court cases involving the rights of children with disabilities. Concludes with three state policy recommendations for testing students with disabilities: (1) avoid testing on a single criteria; (2) give adequate notice; and (3) do not test what has not…

After a decade of steady improvements, graduation rates among African American college students dropped in each of the past 2 years. Discusses the success of black women versus black men, differences in black student graduation rates, differences in black and white graduation rates, graduation rates at black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and…

Asserts that weaving incremental changes into the existing stable system of undergraduate education cannot result in significant improvement because systems determine outcomes. Encourages higher education leaders to abolish the course-credit system, explaining that altering graduation requirements changes everything else: student motivation and…

Year Twelve retention rates have a number of well-known deficiencies that prevent proper comparisons of school completion between school systems. This paper compares secondary school completion rates across Australian states and territories from 1989 to 2002 and adjusts "official" 2002 retention rates to take account of the acknowledged…

In this paper, we examine the antecedents and consequences of timing in the transition from high school to college. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), we find that 16 percent of high school graduates postpone enrollment by seven months or more after completing high school. Delayers tend to have some common…

We examined the prevalence of specific career and technical education (CTE) programs and activities in American high schools in the late 1990s, following a decade of education reform. We also examined the extent to which CTE-oriented professional development is available to school staff and explored the other kinds of supports offered in schools…

In spite of the growing body of political and intellectual rhetoric regarding student success in the academy, the need has never been greater to redefine where the burden of responsibility lies to ensure such success. For the past 10 years, politicians, educators, policymakers and all the essential stakeholders in higher education have heralded…

While Chapman University's six-year graduation rate has been increasing steadily in the last few years, the institution continues to seek better ways to retain its students. Accordingly, our attention has focused on trying to identify freshman students who are more likely to be retained and those who are likely to depart college prior to degree…

Military-style residential treatment for adolescents with academic and conduct problems is an increasingly popular alternative to traditional school-based services. However, dropout from "boot camp" programs is a primary reason for their high cost. Social-emotional functioning before referral may differentiate adolescents who…

Data mining of IPEDS data is used to develop models that calculate predicted graduation rates for two- and four-year institutions. (Contains 7 tables and 5 figures.)

Research shows that Latino students are grossly underrepresented in higher education. In this chapter, however, we show how family, community, and institutional partnerships can be an evidence-based practice for faculty and student affairs professionals who wish to increase Latino participation and graduation rates.

In looking at recent graduation rates reported by states, Latinos should be proud. For the 2002-03 school year, North Carolina reported a 94% graduation rate for Latinos, while New Mexico claimed an 89% rate, and Indiana, an 85% rate. Unfortunately, these numbers are not only deceptive, they are, according to the Education Trust, wrong. Under the…