What We Are Reading: Dropout Rates, Check and Connect, Summer Bridge

Looking for new high school-related resources?  Here are some pieces that other organizations have recently released:* Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2009 (National Center for Education Statistics, October 13, 2011). This report updates a series of NCES reports on high school dropout and completion rates that began in 1988. The report includes national and regional population estimates for the percentage of students who dropped out of high school between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of young people who were dropouts in 2009, and the percentage of young people who were not in high school and had some form of high school credential in 2009. The 2009 High School Transcript Study User’s Guide (National Center for Education Statistics, October 19, 2011). This user’s guide documents the procedures used to collect and summarize the data from the 2009 High School Transcript Study. Chapters detail the sampling of schools and graduates, data collection procedures, data processing procedures, weighting procedures, and the 2009 data files and codebooks that are encompassed by this report.  College Completion Agenda Progress Report 2011: Latino Edition (College Board, October 2011). Despite an important demographic shift across the United States, a limited proportion of Latinos are earning college degrees.  The publication contains in-depth findings about the educational progress of Latino students and offers a series of recommendations for addressing the challenges they face. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report: Check & Connect  (What Works Clearinghouse, October, 2011). This report reviews research on Check & Connect, a program designed to promote students’ engagement with school and learning. Students may be referred to the program if they exhibit academic, emotional, or behavioral warning signs. Check & Connect is implemented by a monitor, who is a combination of a student mentor, an advocate, and a service coordinator. Student levels of engagement (such as attendance, grades, and suspensions) are “checked” regularly and used to guide the monitors’ efforts to increase and maintain the students’ “connection” with school. Getting Ready for College: An Implementation and Early Impacts Study of Eight Texas Developmental Summer Bridge Programs (MDRC, October 2011). In 2007, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) funded 22 colleges to establish developmental summer bridge programs. Aimed at providing an alternative to traditional developmental education, these programs involve intensive remedial instruction in math, reading, and/or writing and college preparation content for students entering college with low basic skills. In 2009, the National Center for Postsecondary Research (NCPR) — of which MDRC is a founding partner — launched an evaluation of eight developmental summer bridge programs in Texas (seven at community colleges and one at an open-admissions four-year university), the early findings of which are described in this report. Lining up: The Relationship Between the Common Core State Standards and Five Sets of Comparison Standards (Educational Policy Improvement Center, October 2011). EPIC recently completed an alignment study on the Common Core State Standards. The study determines the extent of correspondence (alignment) between the exit level Common Core State Standards and each of five sets of existing standards (California and Massachusetts state standards, the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards, the Knowledge and Skills for University Success, and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme). REL Technical Brief Compares Reading and Math Proficiency Rates Across Student Subgroups (REL West, October 25, 2011). This technical brief examines the 2008/09 reading and math proficiency levels of four categories of Arizona public school students: English language learner status, disability status and economic status. Responding to an Arizona Department of Education request, the brief describes how student subgroup performance differs by school level (elementary, middle, and high) and across three school types: Title I Schools in Improvement; Title I Schools Not in Improvement; and non–Title I schools. The same analyses were conducted for charter schools. 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.