In recent years educators and policymakers have set a goal that students graduate from high school ready for college and careers. However, as a nation we are far from achieving this goal, particularly for low-income and minority students. For example, in states where all eleventh-graders take the ACT[R], only 27 percent of low-income students in…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine the perceived implications that principal leadership has on transforming a large comprehensive high school into smaller learning communities (SLCs); and to speculate on possible factors that contribute to the change process after the implementation of SLCs. The study explores the roles,…

As one of only six states receiving a federal Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy grant, Pennsylvania has designed and implemented an innovative program that focuses on improved instruction and interventions to ensure every student is literate and graduates from high school ready for college and a career. This report describes Pennsylvania's…

The Developmental Strategies for College Readiness and Success Resource Guide was produced by the Education Commission of the States and the Southern Regional Education Board for the "Countdown to 2015: Developmental Strategies to Advance Readiness in the Common Core Era" convening held April 21-23, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The…

The current educational reform agenda requires that stakeholders in the school community help all students graduate. The U.S. Department of Education's "A Blueprint for Reform: Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act" sends all stakeholders a clear message to take action that results in every student completing high school…

In January 2010, the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education (NRCCTE) issued a progress report on three studies being conducted by the Center that examine the implementation and outcomes of Programs of Study (POS), which were required in the 2006 reauthorization of the federal legislation for career and technical education…

For the first time in the nation's history 46 States and the District of Columbia have agreed that all K-12 students will be educated along a common continuum of high academic expectations known as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Having clear, consistent standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics will help ensure that all…

Students from underrepresented groups who seek to become the first in their family to attend college confront economically and racially stratified education systems. This article reports findings from an evaluation of First Graduate, an organization that offers college advising, mentoring, tutoring, and case management to first-generation students…

The demands and opportunities of globalization involve not only America's economic competitiveness, but also national security, the need for tolerance in increasingly diverse communities, and a need to solve pressing social issues. To be successful, students need a comprehensive and integrated set of global learning experiences that help them…

Dropping out of high school is not an event, but rather a process that involves a number of complex and interrelated factors. For example, 50% of eventual dropouts can be identified as early as the sixth grade and 80% by the ninth, based on observable academic, attendance, and behavior indicators. Furthermore, the first marking period of the ninth…

This study examined the perceptions of Language Arts teachers, Mathematics teachers, and administrators in four high schools in a large urban New Jersey school district regarding a standards-based teacher evaluation system implemented in 2003 adapted and modeled on "Enhancing Professional Practice: A Framework for Teaching" (Danielson,…

High schools and middle grades schools are making special efforts to keep students in school and to help them look forward with confidence to the next stage of life. They are connecting students to adult mentors or counselors who assist them in setting goals and completing a program of study for college and career readiness. They are assisting…

Between 1998 and 2002 an estimated 250 mentoring programmes were started in Dutch secondary vocational education in order to decrease motivational problems and drop-out rates, especially among youngsters from ethnic minorities. Currently there are only two schools in secondary vocational education that include mentoring as part and parcel of their…

The purpose of this study was to identify the agricultural education enrollment trends in Iowa using 15 years of data collected from 1991 to 2005. It was found that agricultural education enrollment, Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) participation, and FFA membership have grown. Using annualized growth rates, agricultural education…

One of the key claims of choice advocates is that it will take diverse schooling options to engage all children in learning. In a school system truly open to new providers of instruction and diverse schooling options, private schools and public schools of choice can vie for customers by trying different subject themes and pedagogies. If a school's…