Graduation and dropout rates are the center of the conversation about high school reform, with President Obama and the U.S. Department of Education leading the charge to boost high school and college graduation rates among our nation's students in the next ten years. Recognizing the need for a comprehensive approach to keeping teens in school and…

Education Resource Strategies (ERS) works with school and district leaders to help them more strategically use resources--people, time, and money--to improve student performance. They have found that many school districts begin creating small high schools without a clear sense of how much they will spend or how to ensure that small schools…

This report summarizes recent research on factors relating to excessive student absenteeism, the effects of absenteeism on pupil achievement, and the effects of instruction, positive reinforcement, and parent-school involvement on attendance. Actual proposals, policies, and programs from 16 school systems in 12 states are included. Much of the…