Even though teen pregnancy rates are declining, teen pregnancy remains a complex and problematic phenomenon in our culture. The problem addressed by this study was that although the number of births to teen mothers is decreasing, less than 50% of teen mothers are completing high school. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was…

Graduating from high school is an important step toward becoming a successful adult. It is evidence that one has met the standards set by the public school system. Standards-Based Reform has been pursued since the 1980s and culminated in the development of the Common Core State Standards that were implemented by most states between 2011 and 2015.…

Students in foster care are a resilient group of individuals who often face many obstacles and changes in environment (e.g., home, school, community) from a young age. While the foster care system's goal is to provide a safe and stable environment for children, adolescents, and transitional age youth, there are many challenges students in foster…

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to describe the support and practices Black Males received to graduate high school successfully. This study is important because it details the challenges and experiences that young Black males who reside in urban areas and attend school in Los Angeles County describes the factors needed…

This report contains three parts: the "Graduation Pathway Options Report" with Foreword by the State Board, "Washington Graduation Pathway Options: Stakeholder Feedback Project Year 3, Volume I," and "Washington Graduation Pathway Options: Stakeholder Feedback Project Year 3, Volume II." The graduation pathway is one…

Educational attainment is a crucial contributor to postsecondary achievement for deaf people, as a key component of narrowing employment gaps. Fewer deaf people complete high school and postsecondary education than their hearing peers, resulting in severe educational attainment gaps. However, secondary data analyses of the American Community…

We study the effects of the COVID pandemic on educational attainment. By 2022, entry into two-year colleges was 21 percent lower than before the pandemic, with larger declines in Black- and Hispanic-majority colleges. Four-year college entry declined by only 6 percent and then rebounded 4 percent. High school graduation reached an all-time high in…

Background/Context: Students designated as English Learners (ELs) account for 10.4 percent of all students nationwide but have historically been provided unequal access to educational resources (Gándara et al., 2003; National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). Further, education policies are often blind to ELs' strengths and challenges,…

Considerable research has examined the personal factors and practices associated with transition-age youth with disabilities achieving higher employment rates and greater self-sufficiency as adults, but there is limited evidence on the longer-term effectiveness of these practices and services. This study examines the role of youth's use of…

In Nunavut, data for 2012-2014 shows a high school graduation rate of 34%. Little has been published about the causes of secondary students' absenteeism and the methods for attracting students back to school. This study explored the barriers and supports to education success from the perspectives of school staff, students, and parents. Interviews…

This paper examines data from the Digest of Educational Statistics and other sources to investigate Latinx educational achievement rates between 2005 and 2019. After comparing educational attainment rates from white, Black, Latinx, and Asian students, the paper documents the improvement in education among Latinx students in recent years despite…

This three-study dissertation investigated how socioeconomic factors and policies are associated with educational outcomes for undocumented youth and, in one of the papers, to what extent education and employment outcomes intersect. Guided by the specific questions of each study, the three papers take different theoretical and methodological…

For the last two decades, graduation rates have been one of the key metrics used to evaluate school effectiveness under federal law, with the goal of ensuring that all students receive a high-quality education. Researchers have found, however, that policies intended to optimize this accountability measure can have undesirable consequences for…

This is the executive summary for the report, "College Material: Programs Supporting Postsecondary Education Readiness and Completion in Milwaukee." Milwaukee has been plagued by concerns that its education system is neither serving all youth nor sufficiently growing local talent to sustain the area's economy. This new analysis by the…

In the city of Milwaukee, the vast majority of students do not achieve both high school and college graduation which has been termed as a "completion crisis." This is negatively impacting not only those students but also the region's workforce challenges. Indeed, the area economy could suffer greatly unless metro Milwaukee leaders can…