Education Week and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center released this year’s edition of Diploma Counts, examining the status of graduation rates and state P-16 and P-20 councils, and whether they can help smooth the transition for school youth to go on to successfully earn college degrees. The report illuminates critical issues on the status of education that have significant policy ramifications.

P-16 councils are state-formed groups of individuals from various levels of education, from preschool to post-college graduates, often including representatives from state government, business and the community. These councils are one of the most popular vehicles in strengthening the connection between public schools and higher education. The councils’ goal is to strengthen ties between schools and postsecondary education and training so students can successful earn a college degree. Currently, 38 states have P-16 or P-20 councils that deal with many of the issues in obtaining this goal.

Diploma Counts found that these councils have steep challenges to address in increasing the number of students obtaining their college degree. One of the main challenges is increasing the number of students that graduate from high school. According to the report, it is estimated that 1.23 million students will fail to graduate from high school this year. However, there are wide disparities between the state-reported graduation rates and the center’s estimates. These disparities are one reason the U.S. Department of Education proposed new rules this spring requiring all states to report graduation rates based on a uniform method that tracks cohorts of students as they progress through high school.

Despite the disparities between reported graduation rates, it is clear that there is difficulty for specific minority groups and specific regions of the nation in graduating students from high school. For example, the report states that 71 percent of ninth graders make it to graduation four years later, according to national 2005 data. This figure reduces to 58 percent for Hispanics, 55 percent for African-Americans and 51 percent for Native Americans. Additionally, while more than eight in ten students graduate on time in states such as Iowa, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, that proportion drops to fewer than six in ten in states such as Georgia, Nevada, Louisiana and South Carolina.

The challenges presented in the report provide multiple opportunities for evaluation and strategic planning to assist policymakers and school districts. The Improve Group is currently working with numerous clients on projects that directly affect the topics mentioned in the report. With the challenges presented in Diploma Counts, there are sure to be more opportunities to address critical issues in improving graduation rates and education.

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I recently ran across a great list of resources for Evaluators. The Outcome Measurement Resource Network, compiled by the United Way, links to professional organizations, government agencies, publishers and evaluation projects. The United Way provides a brief description of the resources available. I just signed up for the Harvard Family Research Project’s Evaluation Exchange newsletter, which is available in electronic and print formats. Please let me know which resource you find most helpful!

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Welcome back to the Research Tidbits series!

Albert Einstein was quoted as saying that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. This quote brings a smile to my face as I am reminded of my occasional trials and tribulations with technology. I have a feeling I’m not alone, although perhaps ‘insanity’ is a bit strong characterization! In the interest of preserving my fellow evaluators’ sanity, I’d like to share a tip that I recently picked up about importing and exporting charts.

Recently, I was working on a PowerPoint presentation and needed to import some charts from an Excel spreadsheet. These were user-defined charts with our specific color scheme (For some tips on how to make these types of charts, click here.) I found that every time I imported the charts, the labels disappeared. I first tried to alter the chart size in Excel before I copied them over, but to no avail. Try as I might, I still had the same result. It struck me that perhaps others experienced this problem, too. I typed my problem into a quick web search and found out that this was indeed a problem with some user-defined charts. However, I learned that I could make a chart into a picture by clicking shift, accessing the edit menu and selecting “Copy Picture.” Voila! Problem solved.

My take-away messages from this experience are: 1) Yes, there IS an easier way to import Excel charts; and 2) if you’re having a problem with technology, chances are you are not alone. Type your problem into a web search and with luck, your problem will soon be solved.

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Welcome to the second installation of the Research Tidbits series!

In our reports for the DHS Waiver Review project, we include the most up-to-date population estimates available from the U.S. Census Bureau website. The American FactFinder's Population Finder tool allows you to view estimated population trends nationwide, by state or by county. This data can be downloaded in a variety of formats, including text files, comma or tab delimited files or Microsoft Excel worksheet formats.

We use this data at the Improve Group at least monthly, so I download Minnesota-specific data in an Excel worksheet to my hard drive. Now, I don’t have to visit the Census Bureau website every time I report on a county’s population; I simply pull up my saved document. I include a link to the original source in the Excel worksheet so I know where to go to get updated information and can refer others to this source.

Another great resource for information on counties, cities and townships is ePodunk. When viewing a county profile on this website, you can learn about everything from historical sites to current job openings in the community; from air pollution levels to the county’s economic profile. There is also information about communities on this website on the city and township level.

To view current DHS reports by the Improve Group, click here.

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Welcome to Research Tidbits, a new monthly feature on the Inside Groove blog. Research Tidbits will highlight useful tips we’ve learned through the years at the Improve Group.

Recently, Marian and I wrote an article on successful transitions in the K-12 education system that will be featured in our forthcoming Fall 2007 company newsletter. While doing some background research on this topic, I was delighted to find that I could download academic articles for free through my membership at the Minneapolis Public Library. This meant that I was able to access a number of academic journals, such as the American Journal of Evaluation, Evaluation & the Health Professions, and Evaluation Review, right at my desk! Any Minneapolis resident with a library card and a password can access these free resources online; however, non-members must go to the library to access them.

Another free resource available to Minnesotans (with a library card) is the Electronic Library for Minnesotans (ELM). Patrons log in with a library card number (no password is needed) and have access to a number of peer-reviewed journals, as well as newspaper and magazine articles. For those without a library card, ELM also shows you how to contact your nearest library.

Although the resources I’ve mentioned are specific to the Minneapolis and Minnesota Public Library systems, I encourage you to contact your local library to see what free resources are available for research. Like me, you might just be surprised at what you find!

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