This article features Worcester (MA) Technical High School, a school that has achieved significant gains in Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) scores. The school opened as Worcester Boys' Trade High School on February 9, 1910, with 52 student ironworkers and woodworkers attending on weekdays and Saturday mornings--the beginning…

If the U.S. is to increase the number of college graduates and boost our national competitiveness, we must redouble our efforts to ensure all students graduate from high school prepared for postsecondary learning and careers. This means creating comprehensive education systems that provide learning options that enable a range of pathways to…

This publication is a series of in-depth case studies to examine how three programs which serve a disconnected youth population are utilizing data as a tool for continuous program improvement and ongoing accountability. The report features the following programs: (1) Roca, an organization in Massachusetts which engages the highest-risk youth in…

Few people realize the impact that high school dropouts have on a community's economic, social, and civic health. Business owners and residents--in particular, those without school-aged children--may not be aware that they have much at stake in the success of their local high schools. Indeed, everyone--from car dealers and realtors to bank…

In the state of Texas, whose standardized, high-stakes test-based accountability system became the model for the nation's most comprehensive federal education policy, more than 135,000 youth are lost from the state's high schools every year. Dropout rates are highest for African American and Latino youth, more than 60% for the students we…

This report discusses the deliberations of the Northeast and Islands (NEI) Regional Advisory Committee (RAC), one of 10 RACs established by the U.S. Department of Education to solicit information about the educational needs of state and local educators, school officials, business leaders, state education agencies, parents, local communities, and…

Graduation rates are a fundamental indicator of whether or not the nation's public school system is doing what it is intended to do: enroll, engage, and educate youth to be productive members of society. Since almost 90 percent of the fastest-growing and highest-paying jobs require some postsecondary education, having a high school diploma and the…

An increasing number of urban districts are scrapping traditional high school grade structures, changing their retention policies, and devising more flexible routes toward graduation to address high dropout rates. Educators in Baltimore, Boston, Houston and Rochester, New York say they are particularly focused on the 9th grade, a year when many…

A study was done to examine the reasons why Puerto Rican youth from the Holyoke (Massachusetts) Public School System drop out of high school and the effect of dropping out of school on the Latino community. The study was conducted using data provided by the Holyoke School Department and drawn from Students' cumulative folders and school district…

The research analyzed data sets covering 1981-1985 enrollments, transfers, and withdrawals at two large urban high schools (called Urbana and Northern) in eastern Massachusetts and personal interviews with selected school administrators in four school districts to investigate high dropout rates among Hispanics. Findings indicated that 30% of the…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Governor Bush Signs Middle Grades Reform Act, Sends 250 Reading Coaches into Florida Middle Schools; (2) The…

The "Dropouts in Massachusetts Public Schools" report is an annual report created by the Massachusetts Department of Education (MADOE) to provide districts and the public general information on dropouts in Massachusetts. The intention of this report was not to draw conclusions or make recommendations on the current state of dropouts in…