Drawing from the work of leading researchers and educators from around the country, the Alliance for Excellent Education has identified ten key elements that every high school should have in place to ensure that all its students are successful. The list includes challenging classes, a safe learning environment, and skilled teachers. Whether you are a parent seeking a stronger education for your child, a business owner in need of a well-trained workforce, or a concerned citizen joining with others to improve schools, this checklist can help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of your community schools and guide you in determining the actions you can take to help improve them.

The Job Corps serves youth aging out of foster care with a residential program that provides access to earn a high school diploma or GED, training and preparation for a career, housing, meals, basic health care, and a living allowance twice a month – all at no cost to the student.

Adults who want to get their high school diploma got individual counseling on "drop-in day" in Ventura, California.

District leaders in cities around the country are creating promising strategies to re-engage students who are slipping off-track to graduation and get them on their way to a diploma. This guide from the Youth Transition Funders Group, helps districts plan a comprehensive reform process to increase graduation rates for all students.

Dropout rates are rising and too many young people are finishing high school without the skills they need for college, work and life. In 2009, Congress will reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, commonly known as No Child Left Behind. Here's how the National Collaboration for Youth hopes to see it done -- add improvements to make education more relevant to young people, to better prepare them for success.

The National Education Association (NEA) says the federal education law faces "many policy flaws, false assumptions, unintended consequences, and botched implementation" and offers specific recommendations for fundamental changes to improve it.

I had a few hours to read, so I pulled out the folder into which I cram all of the things that catch my eye and might make good material for a column. Here’s what I read recently:

In the upcoming year, $2876 million dollars is scheduled to be cut from academic and social programs in public high schools across the nation. This is a staggering number, considering the recent decline in test scores. To be sure, there are still many programs that tend to the needs of the students, but with all of the future cuts, this may not be the case in the future. I feel that unless changes are made, the students will continue to receive less academic attention with every passing year. The decrease in attention to gifted programs, the inadequate teacher qualifications, and the lack of funding for social events are taking away support from the students, making them less likely to succeed in the future.

A person's high school years have always been said to be the best of their lives. Not only is it supposed to be a time of meeting and befriending new people who are different, but most importantly, it is the point in life in which you take the first step in setting the foundation for the future to come (the next step being college). Not only are they supposed to be the best, but they are supposed to be the most important as well. However, it must be realized that in order for someone's high school years to be successful, there needs to be a lot of support given to every single person or they will not succeed. I feel that the high schools in the United States do not give the social needs, interests, or academic needs of today's student's the support they need.

High schools do support the academic needs of today's high schools well. There seems to be a very high percentage of college-bound students, which would indicate that this is the case. Many high schools offer advanced courses that will help the more advanced students, and they offer the regular core classes for the rest. High schools offer many areas of study as well. Courses range from Advanced Calculus to Drama. High schools are doing a very good job of preparing their students for the next levels of education.