What We Are Reading: After-School Programs, College and Career, Title 1

Looking for new high school-related resources?  Here are some pieces that other organizations have recently released:* After-School Programs for High School Students: An Evaluation of After School Matters (The Wallace Foundation, June 2011). This report presents results from a three-year, random assignment evaluation of After School Matters (ASM). The major questions addressed by this evaluation are whether assignment to ASM apprenticeships results in improvements in positive youth development, marketable job skills, academic performance, and problem behavior. Digital Learning and Technology: Federal Policy Recommendations to Seize the Opportunity—and Promising Practices That Inspire Them (Alliance for Excellent Education, August 2, 2011). Drawing upon promising educational practices already underway in several states, a new report from the Alliance for Excellent Education connects how federal efforts can enable states, districts, and schools to maximize technology and digital learning to improve student outcomes. To ensure that all students have access to this advanced educational environment, the report recommends specific ways for the federal government to assist local and state educators to better utilize technology and digital learning to transform the American education system. Aligning Career and Technical Education with High-Wage and High-Demand Occupations in Tennessee (REL Appalachia, August 2, 2011). This REL Appalachia report examines the availability of career and technical education program areas in Tennessee high schools, concentrations completed by high school graduates in these program areas, and how these concentrations align with jobs in the labor market. It looks at how these outcomes differ statewide and by region within Tennessee and identifies corresponding high-wage and high-demand occupations projected over 2006–16. Debt to Degree: A New Way of Measuring College Success (Education Sector, August 3, 2011).  According to this report, higher education is plagued by two chronic problems: dropouts and debt. This report provides results from a new, comprehensive "borrowing-to-credential ratio,” designed to offer a more complete way for the public to measure the value of college. The College Payoff: Education, Occupations, Lifetime Earnings (Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, August 5, 2011). In this report, the authors examine just what a college degree is worth–and what else besides a degree might influence an individual's potential earnings. This report examines lifetime earnings for all education levels and earnings by occupation, age, race/ethnicity and gender and note that given the data, a college degree is key to economic opportunity, conferring substantially higher earnings on those with credentials than those without.  Bullying May Contribute to Lower Test Scores (American Psychological Association, August 7, 2011). High schools in Virginia where students reported a high rate of bullying had significantly lower scores on standardized tests that students must pass to graduate, according to research presented at the 119th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. Is Achievement Improving and Are Gaps Narrowing for Title I Students? (Center on Education Policy, August 9, 2011). Has achievement increased for students served by Title I, the largest federal elementary and secondary education aid program? This report uses data to determine the effectiveness of Title I. Findings include results at the high school level. Transforming the Rural South: A Roadmap to Improving Rural Education (State Collaborative on Reforming Education, August 9, 2011). The State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) released a report outlining specific recommendations to improve public education in rural communities in the South. The recommendations in the report are based on research, best practices, and voices from rural communities across Tennessee and throughout the Southeast. The report, released jointly with the Ayers Foundation, Niswonger Foundation, Rural School and Community Trust, and the Tennessee School Boards Association, follows the Southeast Regional Rural Education Summit, which was held in Nashville on July 19-20, 2011.   Are you reading any of these reports or articles?  Or do you have other good high school resources to share? Tweet us at @NHSCatAIR and let us know! *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.

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