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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.

In 2011, the College Board National Office for School Counselor Advocacy (NOSCA) conducted a national survey with a representative sample of 1,327 middle school counselors and 3,981 high school counselors to learn how they view their missions and roles and how they spend their days. The survey findings were recently discussed at the NOSCA fifth annual conference, held April 13-14 in Washington, DC.

When you are working in a high school, district or even a state education agency, sometimes it can be challenging to take a step back and look at the big picture. Busy schedules and the structure of education systems often means that educators, principals, and district and state administrators don’t always have ample opportunity to learn from, collaborate, and develop connections with each other.

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

Doing What Works (DWW), a U.S. Department of Education funded, web-based project, translates research-based practices into usable resources, such as tools and media, to help promote student achievement. A session presented at the 2012 conference of the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) in Tampa, Florida, March 8-10 2012, provided approximately 70 high school administrators with a firsthand look at how these resources can help them infuse more research-based strategies into their practice.

“When students are actively involved in their education, they take ownership of their learning.” This concept is what Sheila Harrity, principal, and Mary O’Malley, assistant principal, of Worcester Technical High School (WTHS) in Worcester, Massachusetts, say is the key to ensuring its students achieve success in their postsecondary endeavors.

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.

Bullying and its consequences is not a new topic of discussion in the school climate discussion. A very recent Ohio high school tragedy is alleged to have been the result of bullying. On February 23, Education Week offered an on-demand Webinar entitled “When Cyberbullying Spills into School,” which aimed to address when schools should intervene in cyberbullying.

Michelle Perry and Matthew Hauenstein from the National High School Center’s Early Warning System (EWS) Team recently presented on the Early Warning Intervention and Monitoring System (EWIMS) implementation process and EWS Middle Grades and High SchoolTools at the 24^th Annual At-Risk Youth Forum, held February 19-22 in Myrtle Beach, SC.

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