Federal High School Graduation Rate Policies and the Impact on Alaska

Institution	Alliance for Excellent Education
Titel	Federal High School Graduation Rate Policies and the Impact on Alaska
Quelle	(2009), (4 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Educational Attainment; Secondary Education; High School Students; High Schools; Graduation Rate; Definitions; Federal Legislation; Politics of Education; Educational Policy; Achievement Gap; Public Policy; Minority Groups; Accountability; Data; Reliability; Alaska + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Bildungsabschluss; Bildungsgut; Sekundarbereich; High school; High schools; Student; Students; Oberschule; Schüler; Schülerin; Studentin; Begriffsbestimmung; Bundesrecht; Educational policy; Bildungspolitik; Politics of education; Öffentliche Ordnung; Ethnische Minderheit; Verantwortung; Daten; Reliabilität
Abstract	In today's economy, employers increasingly demand that workers have a high school diploma, yet America's graduation rates are unacceptably low, particularly among poor and minority students. Nationally, only about 70 percent of students graduate from high school on time with a regular diploma; for African American and Hispanic students, this number drops to little more than 50 percent. For too long, inaccurate data, misleading official graduation and dropout calculations, and inadequate accountability systems at the state and federal levels have obscured low graduation rates. Over the last few years, independent researchers have published more reliable graduation rate estimates, most states have improved their data collection systems, and some states have adopted more reliable graduation rate calculations. These are positive changes, but they do not solve the problems: graduation rates used for accountability purposes remain inconsistent across states and there is insufficient accountability for increasing graduation rates over time. As a result, a chorus of voices continued to demand that policymakers address the remaining flaws and inconsistencies in both the state calculations and data system, as well as the federal graduation rate accountability policies. In October 2008, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) responded by releasing regulations that change requirements for states' calculations, reporting, and accountability systems for graduation rates under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). Although these regulations, if properly implemented, offer hope for significant improvement, some of their provisions--particularly around accountability goals for increasing graduation rates--leave room for considerable variation across states that could undermine the regulations' intention to improve accountability for graduation rates. The regulations address three important components of graduation rate policy: graduation rate definitions, graduation rate accountability, and data and data systems. This document summarizes the changes the new regulations would make in these three policy areas and describes how Alaska's current graduation rate policies might be affected. It also highlights the state's unique policy concerns and hurdles that must still be addressed. (Lists 2 sources.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	Alliance for Excellent Education. 1201 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 901, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 202-828-0828; Fax: 202-828-0821; Web site: http://www.all4ed.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10