July 2, 2008  Many states use merit-based aid as a way to attract high school graduates with demonstrated academic achievement to pursue higher education in their home states.

June 25, 2008  Under current U.S. Department of Education regulations, states can exercise considerable latitude in choosing methods to calculate high school graduation rates under the No Child Left Behind Act. Most states use calculation methods that tend to produce inflated graduation rates by including unreliable dropout data in their formulas.

June 18, 2008  High school graduates earn higher annual incomes, commit fewer crimes, and have lower rates of substance abuse than those without a high school diploma. Yet, according to Diplomas Count 2008 a student is lost from the graduation pipeline every 13 seconds of the school year.

June 11, 2008  As reported in Diplomas Count 2008, 38 states have a P-16 or P-20 council and two of these states—Louisiana and Pennsylvania—have two state-level councils.

June 4, 2008  Formative assessments and item banks are two tools teachers can use throughout the year to check their students’ progress against benchmarks of knowledge and understanding. The EPE Research Center found that 21 states provide educators with formative assessments and/or item banks linked to state standards for the 2007-08 school year.