The charter school sector has expanded beyond brick-and-mortar schools to cyber schools, where enrollment grew almost tenfold between 2015 and 2020. While a large literature documents the effects of charter schools on test scores, fewer studies explore impacts on attainment or postsecondary outcomes and there is almost no work exploring the…

The School District of Philadelphia's tiered system of selective, nonselective, and charter high schools, and the process for high school choice, has created real variation in the degree to which high schools can successfully meet the needs of ninth graders. Research has shown that the ninth grade year is critical in determining a student's…

The author of this article was surprised to read in the December 21, 2005, Ann Arbor News that "The Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center, which represented the Dover [Pennsylvania] School District in its federal case for the teaching of intelligent design, has threatened to sue Gull Lake [Michigan] Community Schools over its policy that…

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 "Quantum Opportunity Program" ("QOP") is an intensive and comprehensive program for high school-aged youth that offers case management, mentoring, tutoring, and other education and support services. The program also offers financial incentives for participation in program activities. Participants enter "QOP" in…

Because ninth grade is such a tough year for many students, some school districts have created special academies or other programs to provide special attention to students in the first year of high school. Studies show that ninth-graders have the most discipline incidents and retentions, and are most likely to drop out. In this paper, the author…