Consistent with the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSI 2010), the authors write that they have asked students to do statistics projects with real data. To obtain real data, their students use the free Web-based app, Census at School, created by the American Statistical Association (ASA) to help promote civic awareness among school…

Research shows that exposure to teachers of color has a positive impact on students of all races, and particularly on students of color. Despite these positive effects, only 4% of Pennsylvania's teachers are people of color. This percentage is not only one of the lowest in the nation, but it is also starkly disparate from Pennsylvania's own…

Communities face powerful challenges that require powerful solutions: a high-school dropout epidemic, youth unemployment, teen pregnancy. In an era of limited resources, those solutions must help communities to achieve more with less. A new kind of community collaborative--an approach that aspires to significant community-wide progress by…

Educators nationwide confront a troubling phenomenon: Increasingly, students leave high school unready for college, as evidenced by high rates of placement into remedial courses and low rates of college completion. Many students also lack either the attitudes or skills essential to succeed in a postsecondary setting, or knowledge of how to apply…

This study is designed to include four waves of data collection, conducted approximately every other year, beginning in 2004 and continuing through 2011. This report briefly describes the procedures used for the third wave of data collection, completed in 2008-2009, and the results from a sample of Pennsylvania's rural 11th grade youth and youth…

This mixed-method study identifies cyber high school graduates' perceptions of the effect of a cyber high school education on successful transition to a traditional university. The study examined students' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages their cyber education experience contributed to their academic and social transition to…

In 2004, the Center for Rural Pennsylvania contracted with Pennsylvania State University to begin a longitudinal study of rural Pennsylvania school students to understand their educational and career aspirations and the factors influencing their aspirations, whether their plans change as they age and if they attain their goals. In its entirety,…

This report presents the number of high school graduates, the Averaged Freshman Graduation Rate (AFGR), and dropout data for grades 9 through 12 for public schools in school year 2006-07. The counts of graduates, dropouts, and enrollments by grade (which serve as the denominators for the graduation and dropout rates) are from the National Center…

The high school dropout problem has been called a national crisis. Educators, researchers, and policymakers continue to work to identify effective dropout prevention approaches. One important element of such prevention efforts is the identification of students at highest risk for dropping out and then the targeting of resources to keep them in…

The transition into high school is a critical point in the educational pipeline, and ninth-grade can be characterized as one of its leakiest junctures. This policy brief examines how some states and districts are currently easing the transition into high school for students. It focuses on five key challenges that states, districts and schools…

This publication provides a compilation of statistical information covering Pennsylvania high school graduates in public, private and nonpublic schools for the 2004-05 school year. Information is provided on race/ethnicity, gender and intended post-high school activity of graduates, including those who are college-bound. Information is also…

Since the inception of the School-to-Work Project in 1998, networks members have increasingly viewed credible evidence as critical to both their approaches to program improvement and their strategies for winning and sustaining support and resources. This issue brief: (1) Describes the activities Network members have pursued together during…

The Second International Conference on Educational Data Mining (EDM2009) was held at the University of Cordoba, Spain, on July 1-3, 2009. EDM brings together researchers from computer science, education, psychology, psychometrics, and statistics to analyze large data sets to answer educational research questions. The increase in instrumented…