This fifth annual High School Benchmarks Report provides the most updated data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. The report was designed with several features particularly tailored to secondary practitioners and policymakers. First, results presented in this report were based on the most up-to-date…

This third annual High School Benchmarks report provides new data on high school graduates' college access, persistence, and completion outcomes. Many schools and districts have access to timely reports on the college access and persistence rates of their own graduates through the StudentTracker? service of the National Student Clearinghouse. The…

Some data on the college-going rates of high school students at the national level are available (Aud et al., 2013), and many schools and districts now have access to timely reports on the college access and persistence rates of their own graduates through the StudentTracker? service of the National Student Clearinghouse. However, high schools…

This second annual report provides high school-to-college transition rates for graduates of public non-charter, public charter, and private high schools. For students of public non-charter high schools the rates are reported in 12 categories based on the school-level demographic and geographic characteristics. This timely and comprehensive data is…

Equipping youth with and without disabilities for the world of work has been the focus of ongoing legislative and policy initiatives. The authors examined the extent to which career development and vocational activities were available to and accessed by youth with severe disabilities or emotional and behavioral disorders attending 34 urban,…

This article offers description and interpretation for understanding the exercise of leadership in teacher collaboration. Data gathered in two urban high schools through observations and interviews were coded and categorized following Miles and Huberman's modified analytic induction technique. The analysis contributes to emerging theory on…

Principals in urban high schools can play an important role in improving school effectiveness by adopting an educational philosophy that focuses on development of the students' sense of self-worth. (PGD)

Rather than promote access, college admissions and financial aid processes often create a series of barriers that the poorest student must overcome to get to college. The Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis (CHEPA) of the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California directed a three-year research initiative,…

This book presents essays written by school reformers that discuss the reform movement and examine the partnership that inspired the creation of small, intimate school communities known as charters. They also reflect on the comprehensive changes that inform each charter and the personal and collective struggles to institutionalize these new…

Two aging structures were replaced by Central High School in an Indiana steel town. Planning, board and administrator support, and community involvement eased negative attitudes toward the high school closures and resulted in a $36 million school that has unified the city and will serve it for over 50 years. (MLF)

In this article, four urban high school students and their student leadership and social justice class advisor address the question, "What are high school students' perspectives on the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act's (NCLB) definition of a highly qualified teacher?" As the advisor to the course, Garcia challenged her students to examine…

This study examines how teachers evaluate student performance in five inner-city high schools that serve disadvantaged student populations. The study is based on in-depth interviews with 78 teachers. Each teacher responded to a series of questions about the practices employed to assess the academic performance of their students. Analyses of…

This document comprises an evaluation of the first-year implementation of the New York City Board of Education's three-year Dropout Prevention Program (DPP), implemented in 10 high schools and 29 middle schools; and the Attendance Improvement Dropout Prevention (AIDP) program, implemented in 3 high schools. Two intervention models were implemented…

Counseling skills can be taught to high school students who enter inner-city peer counselor training programs with few of the interpersonal communication skills that are essential to effective counseling, by using an incremental approach that includes intensive practice. The following skills can be introduced and demonstrated incrementally by the…

This study examines the leadership and management skills needed to improve urban high schools. Information was drawn from a national survey of 178 urban high school principals whose schools had been conducting serious improvement efforts for up to 4 years and in-depth case studies of five large high schools in the following urban areas: (1)…