In the current context, barriers to student attendance and engagement have only increased. Schools and districts are encouraged to emphasize a supportive multi-tiered model for supporting student and staff engagement and attendance rather than punitive attendance or truancy policies. Leadership teams will need to be aware of and adjust policy and…

The goal of this practice guide is to offer educators specific, evidence-based recommendations that address the challenges of preventing dropout in secondary schools. This guide synthesizes the best publicly available research and shares practices that are supported by evidence. It is intended to be practical and easy for teachers and school…

This Teaching Note reports on an initiative designed to increase the number of students who undertake homework in the absence of formal rewards, such as additional marks. While the initiative was successful in increasing the number of students who attempted the homework each week, preliminary findings suggest it may have been accompanied by a fall…

Student "affiliation," also referred to as "engagement," "involvement," "identification," "connectedness," participation," and "bonding" with the school is linked to student success,and a lack of affiliation is directly connected to students' reasons for dropping out of school. Educational reformers and school leaders are beginning to turn their…

This "Report Card to the Public" is published in accordance with Alaska Statute 14.03.120 for the school year 2011-2012. Under state law, each school district is required to report information about its plans and performance to its community. This report includes a statewide summary of performance results. It reports the status of public…

The high school dropout problem has been called a national crisis. Educators, researchers, and policymakers continue to work to identify effective dropout prevention approaches. One important element of such prevention efforts is the identification of students at highest risk for dropping out and then the targeting of resources to keep them in…

Discusses improving attendance of staff and administrators by providing various financial and recognition-oriented incentives including savings bonds, plaques, and a year-end trophy. Rewards for perfect and near-perfect attendance resulted in a 16 percent improvement in total staff attendance and improvement in 90 percent of individual schools.…

Principals and teachers have long thought that student tardiness was a serious problem. In one study from the 1990s, 8-12% of students were absent each day, and more than 40% of teachers found tardiness to be a significant problem. In fact, it is considered so serious that a school's response can go to extremes. The question, of course, is not…

By adopting interactive methods and being sensitive to students' concerns, teachers can minimize uncivil behavior, even in large classes. Solutions found helpful by a number of faculty members focus on several issues, including setting clear expectations, addressing majority needs and rights, taking a proactive approach, and personalizing large…

This report offers a series of transcript-based portraits of traditional-age community college students. As of 2001, students under the age of 22 constituted 42 percent of all credit-seeking students in community colleges and those under the age of 24 constituted nearly three-fourths of first-time community college students. As the baby-boom echo…