The study highlights five strategies to boost high school graduation rates. Of these interventions, two take place in preschool, one in elementary school, one in high school and one throughout the K-12 years. Among successful school strategies, the study cities small-size schools, personalization, high academic expectations, strong counseling, parental engagement, extended time in school and competent and appropriate personnel — generally speaking.
“An excellent education for all of America’s children has benefits not only for the children themselves but also for the taxpayer and society,” the study says. “Poor education leads to large public and social costs in the form of lower income and economic growth, reduced tax revenues and higher costs of such public services as health care, criminal justice and public assistance. Therefore, we can view efforts to improve educational outcomes for at-risk populations as a public investment that yields benefits in excess of investment costs.”
The study can be viewed online at www.cbcse.org, the Web site of The Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education.
--David Pluviose
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