Over the past decade, SREB state policy-makers have focused on actions to reduce dropout rates and increase high school graduation rates. Some policy-makers have suggested that raising their state's compulsory attendance age (often called the dropout age) to require students to stay in school until age 17 or 18 is an important step. However,…

Public education has long been the subject of public discontent. Historical events such as the Soviet launch of "Sputnik" in 1957, the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and repeated media reports that U.S. students were outscored by students in many other countries on international tests each prompted federal and state…