This issue brief outlines the immediate need for more accurate dropout and graduation data, while providing a snapshot of work currently underway. By drawing on two prominent methods for calculating graduation rates: the National Governors Association's endorsed longitudinal approach and the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), this brief…

The aim of this study was to assess rates of childhood disability as indicated by functional limitation of motor, sensory, or self-care skills in children living in severely-distressed neighborhoods. For a neighborhood in the US Census Track to be considered severely distressed, three of the following four characteristics need to be present:…

Social isolation and the harassment of students with disabilities are closely related problems that occur in schools throughout the country. Often, both problems begin in middle school. Social isolation and harassment can feed each other--without meaningful interaction with students with disabilities, other students are more likely to make hurtful…

This article examines the career trajectories and biographies of three women who completed the same graduate preservice program in elementary education. While two have become successful teacher leaders, the third has moved in and out of teaching. This inquiry draws on a ten-year longitudinal study of one of these teachers, positioning that…

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 2002 and 2003, provides data about trends in dropout and completion rates over the last three decades, and examines the characteristics of high school dropouts…

The purpose of this paper is to capture and profile postsecondary education dropouts from three different types of postsecondary education--university, college and other types of institutions. It compares them with graduates from these three types of institutions. The analysis for this report is based on data from the Youth in Transition Survey…

This paper seeks to advance our understanding of the drop-out behavior of students in higher education. Our results are based on longitudinal data for 7000 students who embarked on short and long programs from one university in Spain and who were observed over an eight-year period ending in 2004. The statistical analysis is carried out in a…

SEPTIMUS is a one-year Europe-wide postgraduate theoretical course for psychotherapists and counsellors provided entirely via the Internet. It may be used as part of a training course, with face-to-face elements provided locally, or for continuing professional development. The course was developed at the University of Sheffield in collaboration…

This publication contains a sample of the indicators in "The Condition of Education 2009." The indicators include: (1) Enrollment Trends by Age; (2) Reading Performance and Achievement Gaps; (3) Mathematics Performance and Achievement Gaps; (4) Reading and Mathematics Score Trends; (5) Annual Earnings of Young Adults; (6) Public High…

This study presents the public costs of high school dropouts in Wisconsin. It examines how dropouts in the state dramatically impact state finances through reduced tax revenues, increased Medicaid costs, and high incarceration rates. It also examines just how much high school dropouts cost Wisconsin's taxpayers each year, and how much could be…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides several funding opportunities that can assist states in designing, developing, and implementing statewide education longitudinal data systems. These new and enhanced information systems will enable states to track student progress within and across the secondary and postsecondary education…

Open online courses (OOC) with a massive number of students have represented an important development for online education in the past years. A course on artificial intelligence, CS221, at the University of Stanford was offered in the fall of 2011 free and online which attracted 160,000 registered students. It was one of three offered as an…

For more than 40 years, concern has been expressed over the attrition rate of students in Ph.D. programs in American universities. Although there are a number of significant factors at work, attrition of doctoral students in sciences such as anatomy may lead to a dearth of trained teaching anatomists as well as research scientists in the…

After-school programs for adolescents may be a way to promote positive youth development, and thus, it is important to understand what impact after-school programs can have on the educational achievement of high school students. Chicago's After School Matters (ASM) program offers an exceptional opportunity to study whether an after-school program…

The New Mexico Dropout Report is published annually to provide information for educators, parents, legislators, and other interested parties on the status of education in New Mexico. This report describes the extent and nature of the school dropout dilemma in the state, providing information on the numbers and percentages of dropouts by grade,…