A winning model at Tapestry Charter School

The Charter School for Applied Technologies has the highest graduation rate in Erie County, despite its predominantly poor, minority student makeup, in large part simply by instilling high expectations.

Across the country enrollment in online charter schools is disproportionately white, except in one state- Colorado. In Oregon, the opposite is true. This article compares what factors differentiate the state of Colorado versus the state of Oregon in terms of enrollment in charter schools along racial lines. Some differences include a larger diverse population in the state of Colorado, alternative schools that target at-risk students, and a larger team devoted to overseeing charter schools.

The Summit Learning Program is an online program that offers personalized lessons in science, social studies, math, and English language arts for students in grades four through 12. “Nearly 400 schools use it across 40 states.” The Hechinger Report spent a year exploring the platform in schools, while there are some drawbacks there’s also evidence it works. In some schools, student test scores jumped after using Summit.

Across the globe, there are nearly 60 million students studying in Catholic institutions. In the United States, however, those numbers have been falling in recent years, forcing schools to come up with new ways to collaborate.

Bangladesh schools had very low attendance because children were kept home to work and conditions were unsafe for girls, ethnic minorities, and those with disabilities. BRAC, one of the world's largest and most comprehensive NGOs, has built new schools addressing all the reasons, at home and school, that were preventing children from attending.

Belmont Charter School offers a year-round program that includes camp-style activities, work-study programs, job training, and classroom learning in small groups during the summer. Teachers still receive several weeks off before summer programming starts, and students say the summer options help them build real-world skills and explore topics that aren’t always covered during the regular school year.

Some colleges think students are overwhelmed by the number of options they have to choose from—countless classes and extracurriculars are available on many campuses. Schools across the United States are experimenting with new approaches, ranging from choosing courseloads for freshmen to assigning counselors to meet regularly with students.

A growing number of colleges are providing "first-gen" resources and networks for students who are the first in their families to attend college. Experts are debating what type of help is most effective.

Schools in Austin, Texas have a renewed vigor to address student mental health after they saw hundreds of suicide attempts in recent years. In addition to approaching the issue in a serious manner, schools are now equipped with full-time mental health clinics on campus to offer support for students, teachers, and families. There are now 45 different clinics across the city that have worked with over 2,000 visitors, and already studies are showing improvements in things like increased self-esteem and decreased psychological distress.

Today, one in three college students is the first in their family to attend college; of these first-generation students, about a third drop out. A growing number of higher education institutions are reaching out to parents as one way to improve retention rates -- from offering online courses about life on campus to creating programming for parents during standard orientation schedules, colleges are increasing the chances that students make it through the challenging first year.