Counting on Graduation: An Agenda for State Leadership

This paper from The Education Trust suggests state leaders and policymakers focus on the following areas to increase high school graduation rates: 1) supporting high-quality data collection at the local level, 2) setting more rigorous goals and improvement targets, and 3) establishing as a high statewide priority the goal of improving high school graduation rates. The paper provides examples of states efforts in each of these areas and provides recommendations and specific actions for state elected officials and education leaders.