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National High School Center News and Events

One Dream, Two Realities: Perspectives of Parents on America’s High Schools
Today in America, there are approximately 25 million parents who have children in American high schools. Their role in the educational achievement of their children is profound. Students with involved parents, regardless of their family income or background, are more likely to earn higher grades and test scores, enroll in higher level classes, attend school and pass their classes, develop better social skills, graduate from high school, attend college, and find productive work. The opposite is true for students whose parents are less engaged. Research confirms what common sense suggests: parents are central to the educational success of their children. In an effort to give parents a voice and to provide ideas on how schools and parents can work more effectively together to strengthen the education of children, this study was based on a series of focus groups and a nationally representative survey of 1,006 parents. (November 2008)

Relationships, Rigor, and Readiness: Strategies for Improving High Schools
This report offers lessons from a conference sponsored by MDRC, the Council of the Great City Schools, and the National High School Alliance, which brought together leaders from 22 midsize school districts to describe their reform initiatives and to discuss ways in which research and evaluation can inform and complement school change, including helping students transition successfully into high school, stay on track to graduation, and be prepared for moving into postsecondary education, training, or the workforce. (October 2008)

Minorities in Higher Education 2008 Twenty-third Status Report
The tradition of young adults in the United States attaining higher levels of education than previous generations appears to have stalled, and for far too many people of color, the percentage of young adults with some type of postsecondary degree compared with older adults has actually fallen, a new report by the American Council on Education (ACE) concludes. According to the Minorities in Higher Education 2008 Twenty-third Status Report, the percentage of young adults aged 25 to 29 and older adults aged 30 and above with at least an associate degree in 2006 was about the same, approximately 35 percent. For Hispanics and American Indians, young adults have even less education than previous generations. The postsecondary educational attainment rates of African Americans remained relatively the same for both age groups, at approximately 24 percent. Asian Americans and whites were the only two groups where young adults were more educated than prior generations. (October 2008)

E-News for Better High Schools (October 2008 edition)
This E-newsletter is distributed quarterly and shares our latest tools and products, news and events, and research regarding high school improvement.

Dropout Prevention
The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has released a new practice guide, Dropout Prevention. This guide provides six specific recommendations for reducing dropout rates in high schools and middle schools. Designed for school- and district-level administrators, the guide offers processes for diagnosing dropout problems, intervention practices, and schoolwide reforms that can be of use to educators, school boards, and policymakers in implementing dropout prevention strategies. (September 2008)

Average SAT Scores Remained Flat in 2008
Average national SAT scores for the high school class of 2008 were the same as last year, even as a larger, more diverse group took the test, a College Board report released Tuesday says. SAT proponents say scores are lower now because a more diverse group of students is taking the exam. This USA Today article examines the report findings. (August 2008)

National High School Center Releases Suite of Products to Aid Successful Postsecondary Transitions
This suite of products focusing on postsecondary pathways includes: