College: 2-year

Not satisfied with solely increasing high school graduation rates, more districts and states are emphasizing the content and quality of high school students’ educational experiences, as well as their performance on academic assessments and enrollment in college after high school graduation. For example, Chicago Public Schools has begun including measures of college readiness on schools’ and students’ report cards. The metrics fall into three broad categories:

The California Comprehensive Center at WestEd conducted a research study aimed at identifying middle-to-high school transition practices  at California schools with graduation rates that were higher than predicted. They found that some schools used a “Regional Model” that leveraged collaboration and cross-school communication to ease transition and raise graduation rates.

This month, the U.S. Department of Education released two reports that raise important concerns as we think about the goal of preparing all students for college and career.

The National High School Center has updated the High School Initiatives Map with new information on state high school graduation requirements, university admission requirements, and the number of high school students in each state.  This resource allows users to compare each state’s high school graduation requirements and college admission requirements.

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

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

This week, National Public Radio (NPR) is airing a five-part series that focuses on the dropout problem in the United States. In an introduction to the series, NPR education correspondent Claudio Sanchez explained that the original impetus for the series was the state of the current U.S.

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) recently released updates to its State Education Reform website, including an overview of the 2011 state high school policies related to college- and career- readiness.  With the advent of the Common Core State Standards, it comes as no surprise that 47 states plus the District of Columbia have aligned high school standards with the expectations of college and the workplace, but man