Although Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg tries to interpret the recent data on high school graduation rates as progress, the figures suggest some disappointing conclusions.
A smattering of states, school districts and nonprofit educational organizations have begun to gather data about how students fare in college during their first year after graduation, but their progress has been slow and haphazard.
Although other environmental factors influence opportunities for students to acquire competence by the time of their graduation and to progress along the continuum from novice to expert practitioner, few higher-tier studies address these factors in the context of pre-service education.
Dozens of states accept any improvement in high school graduation rates as adequate progress, and several set a goal of graduating fewer than 60percentt of their students, according to a study released yesterday by the Education Trust in Washington.
Parents could minimize the negative effects, she said, by setting clear expectations about grades and progress toward graduation.
The State of West Virginia has begun tying student aid to academic progress, and graduation rates there have risen.
In testimony before the Senate committee, Mr. Duncan said the waivers encouraged states to experiment and use other measures of progress, like graduation rates.
Instead, a stronger, reauthorized No Child Left Behind Act must include higher standards of accountability and clear, consistent requirements for reporting graduation rates and student progress.
Among other things, oversubscribed classrooms can force a student like Mr. Macias, who must be enrolled full time to keep financial aid, to take courses that might have little to do with his progress toward graduation.
In their remaining years, the university continues to cover tuition and fees for those who maintain progress toward graduation and provides housing stipends to those with high grade-point averages.
