National High School Center
Linking Research and Resources for Better High Schools
The National High School Center is a central source of information and expertise on high school improvement issues for the Regional Comprehensive Centers. Our work includes identifying effective programs and tools, offering user-friendly products, and providing high-quality technical assistance to support the use of research-based approaches within high schools.
Spotlight
Navigating the National High School Improvement Landscape
This web-based map developed by the National High School Center compares high school graduation requirements and minimum state university entrance requirements for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The tool outlines the alignment of individual states’ graduation requirements and state college entrance requirements indicating whether a gap exists between what students must know to graduate high school and what they are expected to have mastered in order to enter college and succeed. The profiles also capture high school improvement initiatives in place to improve secondary education, as well as a brief description of the programs/strategies and the related research base. The press release for the map may be viewed here. (November 2008)
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)
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