Adult students without a high school credential are consistently denied access to programs offered by community colleges and four-year institutions. With a workforce that is in need of employees, employers have identified soft skills that are necessary for success in the workplace. Alabama offers a free program for students that includes these…

Many youth in America are not on track for labor market success. One factor that increases the risk of poor labor market outcomes among these youth is dropping out of school (Rumberger 2020). Youth who drop out of school are at greater risk for job instability and for lower longterm earnings (Hair et al. 2009). They are also more likely to…

High School graduation rates are key indicators of accountability for high schools and school districts in Oregon. Beginning with the 2008-09 school year, the Oregon Department of Education (ODE) implemented the cohort method of calculating graduation rates. The cohort method identifies the year the student entered high school for the first time…

The report draws on a wide array of surveys and administrative datasets to present statistics on high school dropout and completion rates at the state and national levels. The report includes estimates of the percentage of students who drop out in a given 12-month period (event dropout rates), the percentage of young people in a specified age…

The U.S. military services have traditionally used a tiering system, including education credentials such as high school diplomas, in combination with Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) scores to help gauge the likelihood of a recruit persevering through his or her first term of service. But what about less traditional credentials, such as…

There are many benefits for emerging adults, both financial and personal, in obtaining a General Education Development (GED®) credential (Ou, 2008). However, little is known about the correlates of GED® credential attainment in "disconnected" emerging adults attending GED® programs. Our goal was to examine whether externalizing…

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…

A mixed methods framework utilized quantitative and qualitative data to determine whether statistically significant differences existed between high school and GED[R] student perceptions of credential value. An exploratory factor analysis (n=326) extracted four factors and then a MANOVA procedure was performed with a stratified quota sample…

Ever since achieving a high school credential by passing the GED[R] test became widely institutionalized through adult education programs in the United States, outcomes for GED test credential recipients have continued to be of great interest to the adult education community and the general public. Very few studies of GED test credential…

Ever since achieving a high school credential by passing the GED Tests became widely institutionalized through the adult education programs in the United States, the outcomes for GED credential recipients have continued to be of great interest to the adult education community and the general public. Does earning a GED credential bring positive…

This report presents information about selected characteristics and experiences of high school sophomores in 2002 who subsequently dropped out of school. It also presents comparative data about late high school dropouts in the years 1982, 1992, and 2004. Three data sources provide the information for the report: the High School and Beyond…

The General Educational Development (GED) credential is issued on the basis of an eight hour subject-based test. The test claims to establish equivalence between dropouts and traditional high school graduates, opening the door to college and positions in the labor market. In 2008 alone, almost 500,000 dropouts passed the test, amounting to 12% of…

While high school attrition is a critical issue in the ongoing effort to reduce disparities in educational equity across race and class, rhetoric on the "high school dropout crisis" frequently overlooks the large number of students who reenroll in school or earn their credentials in alternative schools or GED programs. The number of…

This report builds upon a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. It presents estimates of rates in 2006, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last 3 decades (1972-006), and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts…

Conclusions about levels and trends in high school dropout differ dramatically depending on whether dropout is measured using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) or from the Common Core of Data (CCD). Using CPS- and CCD-based drop-out measures for 16- to 19-year-olds--which differ solely in their estimates of the number of 16- to…