States and school districts are searching for strategies to raise the college and career readiness of high school graduates--imperative in an era when postsecondary credentials are the key to good jobs, better pay, and stronger economies. The creation and implementation of higher graduation standards aligned to college and career expectations is…

The No Child Left Behind Act requires states to publish high school graduation rates for public schools; the U.S. Department of Education is currently considering a mandate to standardize high school graduation rate reporting. However, no consensus exists among researchers or policymakers about how to measure high school graduation rates. We use…

Critics claim that the "dropout rate" as currently used in Texas and other states captures only a snapshot of a group of students at one time. To expand ways of reporting school completion rates, detailed completion data were assembled for four cohorts of Texas high school students, the graduating classes of 1994 through 1997. Completion…

A study examined enrollment patterns in the Texas public school system for four cohorts of students from 1993-94 to 1996-97. The 1996-97 cohort, for example, which began with students enrolled in the 9th grade for the first time in 1993-94, was followed for 4 years through expected graduation in 1996-97. The 1993-94 cohort included first-time 9th…

High school graduation rates are conspicuous indicators of the relative successes of education systems, school districts, and high school campuses. Graduation rates are among the academic excellence indicators that will be used for the accreditation of school districts by the Texas Education Agency. This report discusses how high school graduation…