This report paints a collective portrait of the Baltimore City Schools dropouts of 2008-09 to summarize some of the commonalities that join their individual stories together. After examining the surface level demographic characteristics of these dropouts, researchers probed more deeply into their behavioral characteristics in the years preceding…

This policy statement presents a vision for a "new deal" to guide reauthorization of the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA). First, states must continue to lead the way with bold, thoughtful education reforms to ensure that all students graduate from high school ready for college and career. This includes developing and…

U.S. social programs, set up to address important problems, often fall short by funding specific models/strategies ("interventions") that are not effective. When evaluated in scientifically-rigorous studies, social interventions in K-12 education, job training, crime prevention, and other areas are frequently found ineffective or…

Learning outcomes are described as written statements of what a learner is expected to know, understand and/or be able to do at the end of a period of learning. At the beginning of the 90s, a EU pilot project on ECTS showed that study programmes were much easier to compare if they were described in terms of outcomes, instead of inputs. The…

One prohibitory component to graduation rates in college is the lack of student success in college algebra. The current national passing rate of college students enrolled in college algebra is approximately 40 percent. Lack of success in college algebra creating higher enrollments in remediation courses for students has also been linked to…

Most studies focus on the effects of charter attendance on short-term student achievement (test scores), using either data sets that follow students over time or random assignment via school admission lotteries to control for differences between students in charter and traditional public schools. Beyond measuring achievement effects, however,…

This article presents the state education finance and governance profile of Tennessee. The 17th largest state, Tennessee is home to 2.01% of the nation's inhabitants. Funding of K-12 education in Tennessee is accomplished via a formula known as the Basic Educational Program (BEP). This plan primarily utilizes school district enrollment numbers to…

A longitudinal research study was conducted at a public university in Pennsylvania on a sample of 129 at-risk students from a state-funded program (Act 101) designed to provide support services for economically and educationally disadvantaged students. This research employed a non-experimental, ex post facto methodology to assess the impact of…

Suggests that one of the biggest high school newspaper stories of the year is senior graduation and that it deserves better and more thorough coverage. (RB)

Discusses commencement ceremonies and the need to provide meaningful messages to graduates rather than a bland, congratulatory speech. (MD)

To counter student misbehavior and restore dignity to commencement exercises, this article details some basic guidelines concerning scheduling, student dress, and student behavior development at Hoffman Estates (Illinois) High School. Graduating students were assigned to teacher chaperones and were given specific behavior expectations. (MLH)

Discusses an Alabama silent prayer law struck down by the Supreme Court. Also discusses two Iowa court cases, one involving prayer at graduation ceremonies, the other involving distribution of Bibles in state schools. (MD)

To determine university requirements of health education, a survey was sent to colleges and universities listed in "A National Directory of College and University Health Education Programs and Faculty" (1981 edition). Results indicate that only 10.7 percent of the universities in the United States require general health education of all…