What We Are Reading: Absenteeism, AP, Extended-Year Graduation Rates

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

How Prepared Are Subgroups of Texas Students for College-Level Reading? (Southwest Regional Educational Laboratory, January 2012). This brief builds on a recent report (Wilkins et al. 2010) that used the Lexile measure (a method for measuring the reading difficulty of prose text and the reading capability of individuals) to estimate the proportion of Texas grade 11 public school students in 2009 ready for entry-level college reading in English. The previous study examined the overall grade 11 Texas student population; this brief uses the same methodology to present similar readiness estimates for student subgroups as defined by 10 characteristics that Texas uses for its state accountability system. 

Accountable for Absenteeism: 4 Ways that States Can Use Chronic Absence in NCLB Waiver Applications (Attendance Works, January 2012). Attendance Works makes recommendations on how states can embed individual student measures—assessing how many students in each school are chronically absent (missing 10 percent or more of school) and how many are achieving satisfactory attendance (missing 5 percent or fewer days)—in the accountability systems they develop for waiver applications.

The 8^th Annual AP Report to the Nation (College Board, February 8, 2012). New data released by the College Board as part of The 8th Annual AP Report to the Nation show a continuation of a multiyear trend: In all but four states, more public school graduates participated in the Advanced Placement Program^®. As a result of this expansion, a higher percentage of high school graduates succeeded on AP Exams, affirming the vision of some educators that many more students deserved access to this type of course work.

Updating a Searchable Database of Dropout Prevention Programs and Policies in Nine Low-Income Urban School Districts in the Northeast and Islands Region (Northeast & Islands Regional Education Laboratory, February 9, 2012). This technical brief describes updates to a database of dropout prevention programs and policies in 2006/07 created by the Regional Education Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands and described in the Issues & Answers report, Piloting a searchable database of dropout prevention programs in nine low-income urban school districts in the Northeast and Islands Region (Myint-U et al. 2009). 

Making Every Diploma Count: Using Extended-Year Graduation Rates to Measure Student Success  (American Youth Policy Forum, Gateway to College National Network, and the National Youth Employment Coalition, February 2012). The American Youth Policy Forum, Gateway to College National Network, and the National Youth Employment Coalition, with support from numerous national youth-serving organizations, have updated an issue brief and resource center, Making Every Diploma Count: Using Extended-Year Graduation Rates to Measure Student Success. This effort aims to encourage states' use of extended-year graduation rates in federal and state accountability frameworks/systems.

Helping Newcomer Students Succeed in Secondary Schools and Beyond (Center for Applied Linguistics, 2012). This report is based on a three-year national research study, Exemplary Programs for Newcomer English Language Learners at the Secondary Level, conducted by the Center for Applied Linguistics on behalf of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, of a national survey of secondary school newcomer programs. It included a compilation of program profiles into an online searchable database and case studies of ten of these programs selected for their exemplary practices.

What are Districts' Written Policies Regarding Student Substance-Related Incidents? (National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, February 1, 2012). To better understand the nature of the policies that may be in use around the country, the Institute of Education Sciences commissioned a study to examine the features of the written substance-related policies for the 100 largest school districts in the country.

WWC Intervention Report: Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies (Institute of Education Sciences, January 2012).  Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies is a supplementary reading program designed to improve students’ reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension by incorporating peer-tutoring instruction. This WWC report focuses on Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies programs for grades 2–6 and high school.

WWC Intervention Report: Odyssey Reading (Institute of Education Sciences, January 2012).  Odyssey Reading is a web-based K–12 reading/language arts program that uses an interactive, differentiated instructional approach to teach students phonics, context, decoding, and comprehension. The program includes electronic curricula and materials for individual or small-group work, assessments aligned with state curriculum standards, and a data management system that allows teachers to develop individualized instruction and assessment tools to track individual student and classroom performance. The WWC reviewed 27 studies that investigated the effects of Odyssey Reading on improving adolescent literacy, none of which meet WWC evidence standards.

Fiscal Year 2010-FY 2013 State Tables for the U.S. Department of Education (U.S. Department of Education, January 30, 2012). State tables are available for FY 2010 (including the Education Jobs Fund), the FY 2011, FY 2012 Appropriations and FY 2013 President's Budget. Funds included in the State-by-State tables are for agency programs that allocate funds to States or local educational agencies using statutory formulas.

Plans to Adopt and Implement Common Core State Standards in the Southeast Region States (Southeast Regional Educational Laboratory, January 2012). Based on interviews with state officials in the six Southeast Region states, this study describes state processes for adopting the Common Core State Standards (a common set of expectations across states for what students are expected to know in English language arts and math) and plans for implementing the common standards and aligning state assessment systems to them.

The State of State Science Standards 2012 (Thomas B. Fordham Institute, January 31, 2012). Reviewers evaluated science standards for every state for this report. The majority of states earned Ds or Fs for their standards in this crucial subject, with only six jurisdictions receiving As.

*Resource descriptions provided by the sponsoring organization.

Note: This blog post was originally authored under the auspices of the National High School Center at the American Institutes for Research (AIR). The National High School Center’s blog, High School Matters, which ran until March 2013, provided an objective perspective on the latest research, issues, and events that affected high school improvement. The CCRS Center plans to continue relevant work originally developed under the National High School Center grant. National High School Center blog posts that pertain to CCRS Center issues are included on this website as a resource to our stakeholders.