Diplomas Count 2006
An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates
June 22, 2006
- Education About This ReportOne of the most fundamental tasks of public education is to ensure that students graduate with a diploma that prepares them for future education, work, and citizenship. But for the school year now ending, an estimated 1.2 million U.S. students, most of them members of minority groups, will fail to graduate with their peers. That’s about 30 percent of the class of 2006.
Education Student ProfilesStaying on course to graduate isn’t an easy task for many students, report Indianapolis teenagers who have struggled.Education Charts: The High School PipelineThe Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI) method of calculating graduation rates can be used to examine the high school pipeline. That is, we can estimate the numbers of students who fall off track for earning a diploma at various points between the 9th grade and the expected time of graduation.College & Workforce Readiness The Down StaircaseThe economic and social prospects for young people who don't finish high school are increasingly bleak.Budget & Finance Costs of Not Graduating Tallied by ResearchersThe cumulative costs to the public from the nation's dropouts are in the billions, for both lost taxes and spending on social programs.
College & Workforce Readiness Mapping Out High School GraduationThe EPE Research Center mapped 2002-03 graduation rates for public school districts across the nation. Low levels of graduation (shown in red) predominate in urban centers nationwide as well as in the largely rural communities of the South, Southeast, and Southwest. The national graduation rate is 69.6 percent.College & Workforce Readiness GED Battery No Substitute for DiplomaThe General Educational Development certificate is not a diploma, nor, some research suggests, is it equivalent to one.College & Workforce Readiness Adding It All UpCalculating graduation rates isn't an easy matter, but states are using a variety of methods that critics say obscure the extent of the problem.Education State Graduation ReportsWith support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center is engaged in a four-year project to study high school graduation and related issues pertaining to late secondary schooling and the transition to postsecondary education and employment.College & Workforce Readiness Signs of Early Exit for Dropouts AboundStudents who are likely to leave school without graduating send predictable signals, researchers have found. But are educators listening?Education Opening DoorsKeeping close track of students' progress would help more teenagers leave high school with diplomas.College & Workforce Readiness A Road Map to State Graduation PoliciesAn examination of four key areas tied to high school completion shows wide variation across the nation.
