Dropout

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.

Over the summer, the Clinton County Regional Education Service Agency and the Shiawassee Regional Education Service District, both Regional Education Service Districts (RESAs) in Michigan, contacted the National High School Center to discuss ways to integrate the National High School Center’s Early Warning System (EWS) Tools with both the Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) as well as

The Alliance for Excellent Education (The Alliance) recently hosted a Webinar to discuss the results of a recent report, The Economic Impact of Communities in Schools. Dan Cardinali, President of Communities in Schools (CIS), joined Governor Bob Wise, President of the Alliance, to discuss the report and its implications for CIS’ future work.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released The Condition of Education 2012, a congressionally mandated annual report intended to help inform policymakers and the public about trends and conditions in U.S. education. This year’s report includes 49 indicators covering (1) participation in education, (2) elementary and secondary education and outcomes, and (3) postsecondary education and outcomes.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) hosted a Webinar, “Utilizing the Village: Building Community Support for Dropout Prevention and Recovery Work in Rural Communities.” It was the first in a series of three Webinars that will focus on dropout prevention and recovery efforts in rural areas. This presentation emphasized that dropout recovery and prevention efforts are not possible without community-wide support and a strong system in place to identify struggling students.

The California Department of Education, the National High School Center, and the California Comprehensive Center have been supporting numerous California districts and schools in implementing an Early Warning System through California’s Early Warning and Intervention System (EWIS) pilot project.

Last week, America’s Promise Alliance released its 2012 Grad Nation update on ending high school dropout.  The report reintroduces the Alliance’s Civic Marshal Plan, a series of benchmarks to help attain a nationwide graduation rate of 90 percent by 2020.  While the report showed progress in a number of areas, it also found the improvement in graduation rates “has not been fast enough t

On Tuesday, February 28, Dr. Laura C. Brown, Director of Georgia Learning Resources System (GLRS), presented a Webinar titled, “GraduateFIRST: The Dropout Prevention Destination.” During this event, Dr. Brown described Georgia’s GraduateFIRST program, identified ways schools can make improvements, shared tools and resources available to schools, and highlighted the successes of specific schools using the program.

Looking for new high school-related resources? Here are some pieces that other organizations have recently released:*

The U.S. Department of Education recently released a professional development resource through Doing What Works (DWW) and the National High School Center.