Special Report

Diplomas Count 2006

An Essential Guide to Graduation Policy and Rates
June 22, 2006
  • Education About This Report
    One 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.
    June 19, 2006
    1 min read
    Education Student Profiles
    Staying on course to graduate isn’t an easy task for many students, report Indianapolis teenagers who have struggled.
    Catherine Gewertz, June 19, 2006
    1 min read
    Education Charts: The High School Pipeline
    The 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.
    June 19, 2006
    1 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness The Down Staircase
    The economic and social prospects for young people who don't finish high school are increasingly bleak.
    Lynn Olson, June 19, 2006
    9 min read
    Budget & Finance Costs of Not Graduating Tallied by Researchers
    The cumulative costs to the public from the nation's dropouts are in the billions, for both lost taxes and spending on social programs.
    June 19, 2006
    2 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness Mapping Out High School Graduation
    The 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.
    June 19, 2006
    2 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness GED Battery No Substitute for Diploma
    The General Educational Development certificate is not a diploma, nor, some research suggests, is it equivalent to one.
    Patrick Miller, June 19, 2006
    3 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness Adding It All Up
    Calculating graduation rates isn't an easy matter, but states are using a variety of methods that critics say obscure the extent of the problem.
    David J. Hoff, June 19, 2006
    7 min read
    Education State Graduation Reports
    With 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.
    June 19, 2006
    1 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness Signs of Early Exit for Dropouts Abound
    Students who are likely to leave school without graduating send predictable signals, researchers have found. But are educators listening?
    Debra Viadero, June 19, 2006
    6 min read
    Education Opening Doors
    Keeping close track of students' progress would help more teenagers leave high school with diplomas.
    Lynn Olson, June 19, 2006
    17 min read
    College & Workforce Readiness A Road Map to State Graduation Policies
    An examination of four key areas tied to high school completion shows wide variation across the nation.
    Sterling C. Lloyd, June 19, 2006
    5 min read