Special Report
Special Report

Graduation by the Numbers

Putting Data to Work for Student Success
June 10, 2010
This year's Diplomas Count explores the graduation-rate challenges facing many students and districts and looks at how schools are using data to help students finish high school and earn diplomas.
  • Education Diplomas Count 2010 State Graduation Briefs
    June 4, 2010
    School & District Management 21 Urban Districts Exceed Graduation Expectations
    A closer look at graduation numbers reveals a concentrated dropout crisis in big-city districts, as well as odds-defying success in 21 urban systems.
    Christopher B. Swanson, June 3, 2010
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    4 min read
    Principal Paul Marshall helps pick up trash at the end of lunch at B.M.C. Durfee High School. Marshall and other staff members have made a significant effort to change the culture at the school.
    Principal Paul Marshall helps pick up trash at the end of lunch at B.M.C. Durfee High School. Marshall and other staff members have made a significant effort to change the culture at the school.
    Erik Jacobs for Education Week
    IT Infrastructure & Management Mass. School System Translates Data Into Action
    Fall River uses well-informed action to transform atmosphere, expectations at once-troubled high school.
    Stephen Sawchuk, June 3, 2010
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    3 min read
    Signs congratulating B.M.C. Durfee High School seniors on their acceptance into colleges adorn the school’s hallways.
    Signs congratulating B.M.C. Durfee High School seniors on their acceptance into colleges adorn the school’s hallways.
    Erik Jacobs for Education Week
    IT Infrastructure & Management Schools Innovate to Keep Students on Graduation Track
    Schools collect more statistics now than ever before, and many are using data as they devise new strategies to help student graduate.
    Dakarai I. Aarons, June 3, 2010
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    10 min read
    Charles Daclan, a child-welfare and attendance counselor, makes notes in his car at a Stockton trailer park and motel on the status of a high school student. Motel employees told him the student’s family had been deported.
    Charles Daclan, a child-welfare and attendance counselor, makes notes in his car at a Stockton trailer park and motel on the status of a high school student. Motel employees told him the student’s family had been deported.
    Manny Crisostomo for Education Week
    College & Workforce Readiness Stockton, Calif., Targets Bad Data on Dropouts
    One California district has made a priority of ridding its dropout counts of inaccuracies.
    Lesli A. Maxwell, June 3, 2010
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    6 min read
    Elizabeth Powell works on a project at the Academy at Opry Mills. The school offers flexible schedules to help students with family and work pressures.
    Elizabeth Powell works on a project at the Academy at Opry Mills. The school offers flexible schedules to help students with family and work pressures.
    George Walker IV/The Tennessean
    College & Workforce Readiness Nashville Offers Options for At-Risk Students
    District provides non-traditional programs for high school students in need of graduation help.
    Dakarai I. Aarons, June 3, 2010
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    3 min read
    Education Sources and Notes
    DEFINING READINESS
    College-readiness definition: State has formal expectations for what students will need to know and be able to do in order to be admitted to state’s two-year and/or four-year postsecondary institutions and enroll in credit-bearing courses. State approaches to defining college readiness have been classified into the following categories: courses, skills, standards, and tests. Some states’ definitions may include elements that do not fall into categories established for this analysis. EPE Research Center annual state policy survey (2009-10 school year), 2009.
    June 3, 2010
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    3 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness Executive Summary
    This year's Diplomas Count explores the graduation-rate challenges facing many students and districts and looks at how schools are using data to help students finish high school and earn diplomas.
    The Editors, June 3, 2010
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    7 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness How Does the EPE Research Center Calculate Graduation Rates?
    Diplomas Count uses the Cumulative Promotion Index (CPI) method to calculate high school graduation rates for American public schools. This approach allows the EPE Research Center to compute the percent of public high school students who graduate on time with a diploma.
    June 3, 2010
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    1 min read
    Matthew Hunter, 22, dropped out of West-Oak Senior High School after being injured in a car accident. He calls school “boring” and says he’s unlikely to go back. This school year, West-Oak hired a graduation coach to work with at-risk students and educate them on the importance of earning a high school diploma.
    Matthew Hunter, 22, dropped out of West-Oak Senior High School after being injured in a car accident. He calls school “boring” and says he’s unlikely to go back. This school year, West-Oak hired a graduation coach to work with at-risk students and educate them on the importance of earning a high school diploma.
    Christopher Powers/Education Week
    Equity & Diversity Rural District Hires Graduation Coaches
    South Carolina educators use federal stimulus dollars to work with students in danger of failing to earn diplomas.
    Mary Ann Zehr, June 3, 2010
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    3 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness U.S. Graduation Rate Continues Decline
    For the second year in a row, the nation’s graduation rate decreased.
    Christopher B. Swanson, June 3, 2010
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    16 min read
    Education About Graduation Briefs
    The Editorial Projects in Education Research Center is engaged in a multi-year project to study high school graduation and related issues pertaining to late-secondary schooling and the transition to postsecondary education and employment. As part of this work, Editorial Projects in Education publishes a special edition of Education Week devoted to critical issues facing efforts to improve the nation’s high schools.
    June 3, 2010
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    2 min read
    Education Graduation Rate Trends 1997-2007
    An interactive map that allows users to explore changes in state graduation rates over the past decade.
    Chienyi Cheri Hung, June 2, 2010