The purpose of this quasi-experimental, ex post facto study was to examine the effectiveness of school counselor check-ins on ninth grade on-track data, focusing primarily on at-risk students during the first semester of their freshman year. This study was designed to measure the effect school counselor check-ins delivered three times during the…

High school graduation rates remain unacceptably low in the U.S., especially among disadvantaged youth (Chapman, Laird, Ifill, & KelalRamani, 2011; Stillwell, 2010), with troubling implications for future earnings and employment status (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2012). Check & Connect (C&C) is an individualized program that pairs…

The focus of this study is on understanding different indicators of academic performance in high school, college enrollment, and college persistence of English Learners--including variation in attainment among active and former English Learners--to support their path to high school graduation and access to college. To understand the academic…

Recent data from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) show that active English Learners were less likely to graduate from high school (77% did so in 2023) than their peers (85%) and less likely to enroll in college (56% of 2022 English Learners high school graduates enrolled in college compared to 66 percent of their non-English Learners high school…

Research nationally demonstrates that children and youth experiencing foster care and/or homelessness achieve academic outcomes significantly below their peers due to trauma and loss, multiple changes in homes and schools, and emotional upheaval. When youth fail to graduate from high school, they are much more likely to live in poverty, require…

Promoting self-determination in students with disabilities is recognized as an integral component of education today. For most students with disabilities, self-determination should be addressed through instruction and in the Individualized Education Program (IEP). Yet, IEPs are rarely evaluated to determine if goals targeting self-determination…

This article describes the results of a research project designed to assess the efficacy of a secondary transition model, RENEW (Rehabilitation, Empowerment, Natural supports, Education and Work), on the social and emotional functioning of 20 youth at risk of dropping out of high school using the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale…

The West Virginia Department of Education (WVDE) is committed to offering alternative educational opportunities to ensure student success, decrease the dropout rate and increase the graduation rate. Each of these opportunities includes a blend of Career Technical Education (CTE) and traditional core academic opportunities or a WVDE approved high…

Recent estimates suggest that of U.S. public high school freshmen in the fall of 2005 24.5 percent did not graduate on time in 2008/09 (Stillwell, Sable, and Plotts 2011). As states and school districts attempt to boost graduation rates, they face the challenge of identifying which students are at risk of not graduating on time. Early warning…

Legislators mandated transition education for students with disabilities to improve their post-school outcomes. Each student with an IEP should have an annual transition plan at or before his or her 16th birthday. IDEA mandated the utilization of age appropriate transition assessment to develop students' post-secondary transition goals based on…

In December of 2004, the reauthorization of IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was signed into law and went into effect on July 1, 2005, making dramatic changes in the area of transition from school to post-secondary life. The President's Commission on Excellence in Special Education created recommendations that influenced the new…

The author describes her experience as special education teacher at Berkeley High School (BHS), an urban school with over three thousand students, and how she began to question the way the school defines disability. The diversity of any large urban school has its benefits, but the size itself will always be the downfall when the school focuses on…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships between the perceptions of school membership, risk factors, and behavioral and academic engagement among a sample of alternative school students. The study subjects were 48 7th-9th graders who were at high risk for school failure because of their serious and chronic behavioral and…

Individual and social benefits accrue when high school graduation rates increase. One approach to increasing graduation rates is to design learning environments that serve students with disabilities through the 5Cs known to increase school completion: connect, climate, control, curriculum, and caring community. Virtual school programs align with…

This report by the Center on Education Policy (CEP) looks at how local educators perceive and act on state policies designed to help at-risk students and English language learners (ELLs) achieve the levels of proficiency needed to pass state high school exit examinations and graduate. Our findings are based on data from school observations and…