Lowering the high school dropout rate among students of color will greatly increase the economic vitality for some of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. The results are part of the Alliance’s continuing work linking improved educational outcomes to economic returns. The city-by-city findings include the growth in jobs, home ownership, levels of spending and investment, and car sales that will result from cutting the high school dropout rate among students of color in half.

Lowering the high school dropout rate will greatly increase the economic vitality for some of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. The results are part of the Alliance’s continuing work linking improved educational outcomes to economic returns. Combined with its release of the forty-five largest metro areas in January, the June 9 release brings the number of cities for which the Alliance has data to over eighty-five. The city-by-city findings include the growth in jobs, home ownership, levels of spending and investment, and car sales that will result from cutting the high school dropout rate in half.

America’s K–12 education system faces three significant challenges: (1) increased global demands for skilled workers, (2) significant financial shortfalls, and (3) a looming teacher shortage. Independently, these factors present significant challenges for U.S. schools. In combination, they create a national imperative for swift action to create a more innovative, effective, and efficient education system. Every day, creative educators are using technology better to meet the needs of students and teachers. Technology can no longer be considered an “add-on” tool in education but rather one that is integral. Embracing online-learning opportunities for students and teachers will strengthen the supply and quality of teachers, improve efficiency, and increase students’ college and career readiness. The "Online Learning: Addressing Challenges and Seizing Opportunities" state profiles present state-specific information about the three challenges. Each state profile summarizes information about (1) online-learning opportunities in that state, (2) the presence of state policies that support online learning, and (3) how federal policy supports online learning in that state.

In the spring of 2009, the Common Core State Standards Initiative was launched with forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, and two territories coming together under the auspices of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers to develop a common core of state K–12 English language arts and mathematics standards. The standards will be college and career ready; internationally benchmarked; consistent for all students; focused, clear, and coherent; and based on the collaborative work of states and districts along with leading subject matter experts, K–12 teachers, postsecondary faculty, and others. The Alliance for Excellent Education strongly supports this state-led movement that promises to lay a new foundation for systemwide education reform. The Alliance is committed to ensuring that these standards improve educational quality for students who historically have been held to lower academic expectations and experienced the worst academic outcomes. The attached profiles of the fifty states capture some of the data relevant to the need for improved standards and assessments in the United States and the potential benefits of educating all students to meet the common college- and career-ready core standards.

In the weeks since the Obama administration released its blueprint for revising ESEA on March 13, the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee and the U.S. House Education and Labor Committee have held multiple hearings on the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, currently known as No Child Left Behind. The Alliance for Excellent Education has prepared primers for each hearing that contain useful facts, flaws in current law, and recommendations for how to improve federal policy on the subject featured in each hearing.

Is your rural high school making the grade? The Alliance for Excellent Education understands that the first step in improving any rural high school is to encourage and support the active engagement of students, parents, teachers, the community, and business leaders. This guide is designed to give parents and community members some suggested ways to begin thinking about whether their local high school is adequately preparing all of its students for a successful future and what they can do to help turn that vision into reality.

These state cards provide a statistical snapshot of high schools for each state in the nation and the District of Columbia. The cards include economic information, data on high school graduation and college completion rates, academic achievement, and states’ progress in building a longitudinal data system. Where applicable, statewide numbers are compared to the national average and include national rankings. Click here to access the card for your state or the District of Columbia. A national card is also available.

Far too many of our high school students—particularly poor and minority students—are leaving school without a high school diploma. Understanding High School Graduation Rates provides the latest graduation rate statistics, demonstrates graduation gaps between demographic groups, illustrates the discrepancies in graduation rates reported by government and independent sources, and examines the economic costs of dropouts to individuals and society.

Recognizing that no tool is more important than information to help educators and other advocates improve the country’s educational system, the College Board and the Alliance for Excellent Education have formed a partnership to develop a series of fact sheets highlighting the state of American schools and their students.The multi-issue series debuted in May 2008 with an overview of education in the United States; after a summer hiatus, the series picked up again in September and will continue throughout the 2008-2009 school year, with the monthly release of additional fact sheets that address a range of education topics.

Our society is demanding ever more literate workers and citizens. As technology advances and the American economy grows increasingly knowledge based, individuals must be able to read, write, and communicate at higher levels in order to remain economic and social contributors. A student’s level of literacy is a critical determinant of success in secondary school and beyond. Currently, more than half of America’s secondary students struggle to read their textbooks and other course materials. Still, research demonstrates that adolescents’ literacy levels can improve with intensive, comprehensive instruction.