In this paper, we present an analysis of the implementation of measures of attention to diversity for students with special educational support needs studying Compulsory Secondary Education (12-16 years) in the Region of Murcia, Spain. Our aim is to learn about the organisational and curricular structures implemented in five secondary education…

An increasingly popular, but underresearched, initiative aimed at reducing high school dropout is raising the compulsory school attendance age. This study used a national data set from academic years 2001-02 to 2005-06 to examine the grade level at which students drop out, rates of dropout over time, and high school completion by state, region of…

In 2010, the authors shared a Civic Marshall Plan to create a Grad Nation. Through that first report and subsequent update, they saw hopeful signs of progress in boosting high school graduation rates in communities across the country. This 2012 report shows that high school graduation rates continue to improve nationally and across many states and…

This 2012 report shows that high school graduation rates continue to improve nationally and across many states and school districts, with 12 states accounting for the majority of new graduates over the last decade. Tennessee and New York continue to lead the nation with double-digit gains in high school graduation rates over the same period. The…

There is a strong, positive and well-documented correlation between education and health outcomes. There is much less evidence on the extent to which this correlation reflects the causal effect of education on health--the parameter of interest for policy. In this paper we attempt to overcome the difficulties associated with estimating the causal…

High school dropouts fare substantially worse than their peers on a wide variety of long-term economic outcomes. On average, a dropout earns less money, is more likely to be in jail, is less healthy, is less likely to be married, and is unhappier than a high school graduate. But despite this growing education gap, dropout rates have remained…

This paper problematises the official discourse of economic competitiveness and social inclusion used by the 2007 Education and Skills Bill to justify the proposal to extend compulsory participation in education and training in England to the age of 18. Comparisons are drawn between this attempt to raise the age of compulsion and previous…

The new schooling-leaving age policy in New South Wales, a state in Australia, requires all students to stay at school until they are 17 years old. The policy was introduced in January 2010, with little warning and, it appears, little consideration of its impact in complex contexts. In south-western Sydney, the most diverse region in the city, the…

This fourth annual update on America's high school dropout crisis shows that for the first time the nation is on track to meet the goal of a 90 percent high school graduation rate by the Class of 2020--if the pace of improvement from 2006 to 2010 is sustained over the next 10 years. The greatest gains have occurred for the students of color and…

In this article, the author makes a distinction between two kinds of change: tinkering change and systemic change. Tinkering change includes reforms intended to address a specific deficiency or practice. Such tinkering change can be contrasted to what Shakespeare termed "sea change" in "The Tempest" ("a sea change into something rich and strange")…

This article uses life course theory and family bargaining theory to explore how decisions over schooling are negotiated in poorer Mexican families for whom compulsory basic education is a luxury. It explores educational decision making by conceptualizing education in terms of the way it meshes with other social relations and institutions across…

We exploit a natural experiment to estimate the causal impact of parental education on educational outcomes of their children when they are high school seniors. In 1968, the Taiwanese government extended compulsory education from 6 to 9 years and opened over 150 new junior high schools at a differential rate among regions. We form treatment and…

Almost one-third of all American public high school students, and one-half of African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, fail to graduate from high school with their class. In recent years, more states have been passing or introducing legislation to raise the compulsory school age. Today's globally competitive economy requires at least a…

This essay explores factors creating Missouri's minimum attendance laws for black students from the end of the Civil War to the enactment of compulsory education in the state in 1905. It argues that, although blacks made notable efforts at educational advancement, they were caught in a crossfire of opposing forces stemming from wartime…

According to records from 2002, there will be a continuous increase in the number of classes, full-time teachers and teaching staff in urban primary and junior secondary schools during the period 2005-2020. At the same time, the demand for classes and teachers of non-compulsory education will decrease yearly. It is estimated that the budgetary…