This paper presents the findings of the 2008 Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE). This year, CCSSE zeroes in on high expectations and high support as it presents the results of its 2008 survey. Both are critical to student success: Students do best when expectations are high "and" they receive support that helps them achieve at…

In May 2008, the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) issued the Education Policy Brief, "Calculating High School Graduation Rates," which discussed the importance of accurate and reliable high school graduation data, various graduation rate calculation methods, the history behind the use of particular methodologies, and…

This issue of "The Link" newsletter contains the following articles: (1) Evidence-Based Practice: Developing a New Business Model from the Inside Out (Jeremy Kohomban, Paul Schiller, and Patricia O'Gorman); (2) The School to Prison Pipeline and Criminalizing Youth: Costs, Consequences, and Alternatives (Marsha Weissman); (3) Group Homes Appear…

Too many freshmen students remain mired in the ninth grade, presenting a growing problem for America's secondary schools as they struggle to improve high school completion rates. In an effort to stem the tide of high school dropouts, a southeast Texas suburban school district with five comprehensive high schools engaged in a systemic reform effort…

In Colorado, school discipline measures vary from classroom to classroom, school to school, and district to district. Another area of concern is the disproportionate number of ethnic minority students who are expelled in Colorado. While Latinos accounted for 17 percent of Colorado's students, they represented one-third of expelled students.…

The martial art of Aikido was used as an intervention with 15 middle and high school students with severe emotional disturbances in an alternative educational setting. Students with an extensive history of violently disruptive and assaultive behaviors were trained for 12 weeks in this nonviolent Japanese martial art in order to achieve the…

This report describes a project to teach young children strategies to resist the lures of strangers and to produce and disseminate a training manual for teachers in mainstreamed preschool classes. Project activities and accomplishments of the project are described. The project involved a study of 47 children (ages 3 and 4), 6 of whom had…

Originally presented in newspaper format, this report consists of 13 articles on American Indian education in Montana, written by journalism students at the University of Montana. The articles include: (1) "The Relentless Killing of a Culture" (David Zelio) which discusses the cultural genocide committed at boarding schools with the aim…

This newsletter addresses managing the spread of communicable diseases in childhood settings as well as educational program concerns for children who are HIV infected. Noting that communicable diseases are a source of concern no matter how minor they might appear, the newsletter suggests that it is important for individuals who work with the…

This paper provides a transcript of a videotaped roundtable discussion on illiteracy among young people (aged 16-30) in Canada. The discussion centered mainly on French-speaking Canadians and school dropouts. Panelists declared that the present adult literacy education system focuses on adults and that young people cannot fit into that system.…

This outline presents a program designed to teach children "how" to think, not what to think--so as to help them solve typical interpersonal problems with peers and adults. Through games, stories, puppets, illustrations, and role plays, children learn a pre-problem solving vocabulary, feeling word concepts, and ways to arrive at solutions to…

The adolescent at risk for suicidal preoccupation and behavior has become an increasing concern for schools and communities. This paper presents some of the causes of teen suicide, things adults should know about adolescent suicide prevention, and what can be done to help such youth. The transition to adolescence is a complex time when many values…

Recent statistics indicate an increase in the rate of teen pregnancy and parenthood, which in turn indicates a need for increasing services at school sites. The younger the teen is at the time of the first pregnancy, the greater the likelihood that she will drop out of high school due to the barriers of child care, family dysfunctions, and lack of…

This newsletter focuses on the results of Safe Schools Program activities funded by the North Carolina Center for Prevention of School Violence and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction from January 1994 to June 1995. These activities included conflict resolution and peer mediation, coping with anger, crisis response teams, a…

A survey considered young people's attitudes toward crime and violence and community service. The survey was based on a sample of 2,023 public, private, and parochial school students in grades 7 through 12, including a representative sample of urban students. The majority felt safe in their communities, but many did not always feel safe.…