Improving High School Student Achievement and Graduation Rates

The National High School Center is pleased to announce the release of our research brief, “Emerging Evidence on Improving High School Student Achievement and Graduation Rates: The Effects of Four Popular Improvement Programs,” by MDRC, a partner of the National High School Center. A key finding of the brief indicates that instructional improvements, along with structural changes that promote personalization, are both important in creating higher-performing high schools.

The take-aways for better high schools are gleaned from the research conducted on the following prominent high school improvement programs: Career Academies, First Things First, Project GRAD, and Talent Development. The brief, which outlines lessons learned as well as opportunities for improving high schools, expands on MDRC’s May 2006 report, “Meeting Five Critical Challenges of High School Reform: Lessons from Research on Three Reform Models,” and includes additional findings related to Project GRAD.

The brief is available free-of-charge on the National High School Center Web site.
Download this brief >