policing our way to a better world?

Compulsory attendance laws are still the primary policy lever used in the US public school system, even when their efficacy and costs are unknown and unexamined. Do schools provide more services or only enforcement? Full report, released by the US Dept of Education, Dec 2013, PDF

Raising Compulsory Attendance Age Needs Further Study, Report Says - Rules for Engagement - Education Week: "Eleven states raised their compulsory school attendance ages between 2002 and 2011 in hopes of reducing dropout and discipline rates, but none of them followed through with studies to determine if the policies were actually effective, a study by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance found.

"The evidence for raising the compulsory school attendance age is inconclusive, so no clear policy implications can be drawn," says the report, released Wednesday.

But a review of other materials suggests that states that adopt higher attendance age requirements "should do so in conjunction with complementary retention and dropout-prevention policies that create a comprehensive approach," the report says."