Policy: Federal

Common Measure for State High School Graduation Rates

For the first time in the United States, all states are reporting their four-year high school graduation rates based on a common, rigorous measure. The U.S. Department of Education released data on November 26 presenting the new rates for school year 2010-2011. The new calculation showed 26 states reporting lower graduation rates, as compared to the previous year, and 24 states with rates that were unchanged or that had increased.

Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century

The Congressional Career and Technical Education Caucus convened a panel Tuesday, July 24th to discuss the implications of a recent Harvard Graduate School of Education report, “Pathways to Prosperity: Meeting the Challenge of Preparing Young Americans for the 21st Century.” Bill Symonds, lead author of the report, argued that four-year college as a path to preparing students for the w

What Effect Does Upward Bound Truly Have?

Upward Bound (UB), a federal TRIO Program that provides support to educationally and financially disadvantaged high school students to increase secondary graduation and enrollment in and graduation from postsecondary institutions, is one of the oldest and biggest federal programs geared towards this purpose.

Career and College Readiness and Implications for Technical Assistance

The National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research, in collaboration with the American Youth Policy Forum and the Educational Policy Improvement Center, hosted an invitation-only “College and Career Readiness Symposium: The Role of Technical Assistance in Actualizing College and Career Readiness,” in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2012.

U.S. Education Department Releases Blueprint for Reauthorization of Perkins

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education released its blueprint for reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. The Perkins Act is the principle source of federal funding for secondary and postsecondary career and technical education programs. In the blueprint, effective, high-quality career and technical education programs (CTE) are defined as being aligned with college- and career-readiness standards as well as the needs of employers, industry, and labor.

NCLB Waivers and States’ Definitions of College and Career Ready

Under Principle 1: College and Career Ready Expectations of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Waiver Applications, states were required to include their definition of CCR in their applications. We reviewed the 10 approved waiver applications seeking clarity about states’ definitions of CCR expectations.

Implementing SIG: Advice for School Improvement Grantees

This is one in a series of blog posts about the recent Midwest High School SIG Conference, held May 18-19, in Chicago. Schools and districts involved in turning around low performing schools received advice from leaders in the field at the Midwest High School SIG Conference last month.  Braden Goetz, Group Leader of High School Programs at the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, U.S.

Pages