Newark's high schools play an essential role in building the next generation of young minds for college and career readiness. Yet, high achievement may be unattainable if students miss too much school. Reasons for student absence vary. In Newark Public Schools, 48 percent of high school students were "chronically absent" in the 2015-16…

Newark's high schools play an essential role in building the next generation of young minds for college and career readiness. Yet, high achievement may be unattainable if students miss too much school. "Chronic absenteeism" is generally defined as missing 10 percent or more of enrolled days for any reason. Research has shown that when…

A mainstay in NCLB and the Obama administration education plan is turning around low-performing schools. This study utilized surveys and interviews with school leaders from four turnaround urban high schools in Texas to understand student outcomes before and after school restructuring and reconstitution. Although some organizational changes were…

Since 2003, Ontario, Canada's high school graduation rates have increased 13% while suspensions and expulsion rates have simultaneously decreased. This article examines relationships between the province's safe school policy and Student Success/Learning to 18 (SS/L18), a policy designed to increase graduation rates. Analyses of teachers'…

Starting in the mid-1800s, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) were created for the purpose of educating Black students. Since their inception, HBCUs have transformed from institutions of higher learning with a core curriculum of teaching and ministerial education serving the Black community to progressive colleges and…

This study explored what graduating seniors and university staff perceived contributed to high college completion rates of African American and Hispanic students at George Mason University (Mason). To understand what Mason may have been doing to support African American and Hispanic students toward college completion, in-depth interviews were…

The purpose of this mixed method study is to explain the ecology Black males experience as they transition from elementary school to middle school in terms of behavior. The Black male graduation rate is well below 50% nationally (Orfield, Losen, Wald, & Swanson, 2004; Schott Foundation for Public Education, 2010). Graduating from high school…

This case study investigated the effects of year-round school on students with learning disabilities at Abraxas High School in Poway, California. Abraxas is an alternative school that operates on a block schedule and year-round calendar. The researcher attempted to answer the question: How does year-round school impact students with learning…

The Lifelong Learning Imperative (LLI) project was initiated to assess current practices in lifelong learning for engineering professionals, reexamine the underlying assumptions behind those practices, and outline strategies for addressing unmet needs. The LLI project brought together leaders of U.S. industry, academia, government, and…

Too many students in high-poverty, urban communities drop out of high school, and too few graduate prepared for college and careers. Three national organizations--Talent Development Secondary, City Year, and Communities In Schools--have formed "Diplomas Now" in an effort to transform urban secondary schools so fewer students drop out and…

The book describes two similar and successful models of youth mentoring used by two acclaimed urban high schools that have consistently achieved exceptional graduation rates. Providing a detailed description of their methods--based upon extensive observation, and interviews with teachers, students, administrators, and parents--this book makes a…

Retention and graduation are major challenges in South African higher education institutions. These phenomena are especially troubling among Black and Colored (BC) students at both historically advantaged and historically disadvantaged institutions. The retention and graduation rates of these groups are disturbingly low compared to those of White…

The focus of this brief is to reconcile "what we know" with "what we hear" to inform what we can do to address the realities facing Latino students in a manner integrated into the broader policy agenda and discussions in higher education. This brief takes stock of the current higher education environment and integrates the perspectives of elected…

Previous research has highlighted numerous ways in which historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) offer more supportive educational environments for Black students than do predominantly White institutions (PWIs). Notwithstanding the consistency of these findings, persistence and graduation rates remain low for undergraduates,…

Over half of all racial/ethnic minority students matriculating at 4-year colleges fail to graduate within 6 years. One explanation for those low graduation rates is minority students' inability to find membership in the cultures and subcultures of their respective campuses. This study was focused on understanding the role of ethnic student…