Better Late than Never
NSBA's Center for Public Education recently analyzed the academic performance, academic attainment, job prospects, civic involvement and health of people who take longer than the standard four years to graduate from high school. Their conclusion?
On-time graduation remains the best prospect for students, and districts should make on-time graduation the first priority for all students. But the extra work late graduates and their schools put toward earning a high school diploma pays off—not only in academic outcomes, but in every aspect of life including work, civic, and health. Late graduates do markedly better in all arenas than GED recipients and dropouts. And, when the data are controlled to compare students of equivalent socioeconomic status and achievement level, late graduates come close to on-time graduates’ achievement.
These findings could prove helpful to policymakers who yearn for consistent, valid methods for calculating high school graduation rates. Given that No Child Left Behind holds high schools accountable for improving graduation rates, the validity of those methods are pretty darn important. To what extent should we sanction schools whose students graduate late--without dropping out?
Check out the Center's new report, Better Late than Never, here.
SIGN UP
Visionaries
Click here to browse dozens of Public School Insights interviews with extraordinary education advocates, including:
The views expressed in this website's interviews do not necessarily represent those of the Learning First Alliance or its members.
New Stories
Featured Story
The Long Turnaround
According to the numbers, Central Elementary School in Roundup, Montana, seems to fit the currently fashionable definition of a “turnaround” school. After many years of below-average test scores, the school has recently made double-digit gains in the number of its students meeting proficiency on the statewide assessment. In true turnaround fashion, that improvement appears to have happened in a very short period of time. As recently as the 2005–2006 school year, for example, Central’s math score was nearly 20 percentage points below the state average. In 2009 it was at the state average.
But ask current principal Vicki Begin about the school’s success and she’ll insist that it’s been anything but a quick turnaround. Begin, who is in her third year at Central, gives much of the credit not only to the school’s veteran teaching staff, which averages 23 years of experience, but also to her predecessor, Joe Ingalls, who guided the school from 1994–1995 to 2006–2007. Obviously, this is not a case of overnight success or of cleaning house and starting over. Read more...
School/District Characteristics
Hot Topics
Blog Roll
- Boardbuzz
- Edwize
- NSDC Reflections
- Advancing the Teaching Profession
- Principals' Office
- Principal's Policy Blog
- ASCA Scene
- The Leading Source
- PDK Blog
- ASBO Intl.'s Economic Recovery Blog
- Always Something
- AASA's The Leading Edge
- U.S. Department of Education Blog
- The Core Knowledge Blog
- This Week in Education
- PTA Blog
- Such a Smart Mom
- Eduwonkette
- Teacher Leadership Today
- On the Shoulders of Giants
- Relentless Pursuit of Acronyms
- Teacher in a Strange Land
- Teach Moore
- The Tempered Radical
- TLN Teacher Voices
- The Educated Reporter
- The Character Education Partnership Blog
- Center for Public Education
- Connect for Kids
- Once Upon a School
Post new comment