PHOENIX (AP) — University ID cards could yield ideas on how to help lower college dropout rates, according to a University of Arizona professor who is digging into years of data on cardholders' shopping habits, social circles and other characteristics.

MALDEN, Mass. (AP) — The high school graduation rate in Massachusetts continues to improve.

State officials say 88.3 percent of students who were ninth graders in the 2013-2014 school year, or who transferred into that class, graduated within four years. That was up from 87.5 percent for the previous class.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A report by an education advocacy group has found that enrollment and retention have increased at Tennessee community colleges, but dropout rates remain alarmingly high, especially among poor and minority students.

SALEM, Mass. (AP) — By the time Randalee Acosta arrived at the New Liberty Charter School halfway through the 2015-16 school year, she had already dropped out of school twice.

The first time, Acosta was living with her grandmother in New York City and said she just wasn't focused on school. She moved to Salem to live with her cousin and enrolled at Salem High School, but didn't like being known as the new kid from New York.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — A new report from the National Center for Learning Disabilities shows Maine has a higher number of special education students than the national average.

The report finds 9,416 children with specific learning disabilities in the state, with 16 percent of public school students in Maine having received special education in the 2013-2014 school year. The national average is 12 percent.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa's Education Department says the state's high school graduation rate has increased for the fifth year straight, even as dropout rates increased slightly for the first time since the 2009-10 school year.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan's most recent high school graduation and dropout rates didn't change much from the year before.

The four-year graduation rate was 79.65 percent in the 2015-16 school year, down slightly from 79.79 percent in the 2014-15 academic year. The dropout rate was 8.91 percent, down from 9.12 percent.

The data was released Wednesday by the Michigan Center for Educational Performance and Information.

MALDEN, Mass. (AP) — The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education has two upcoming meetings to discuss charter schools as well as graduation and dropout rates.

The board is scheduled to meet at its Malden headquarters on Monday to discuss and vote on new charter schools proposed for Westfield, Plymouth and Sturbridge. It will also discuss and vote on proposed amendments to existing charters in New Bedford, Cambridge, Hadley and Boston.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Through the eyes of a graduation coach, no two students are alike — each has their own unique story.

Getting to know each of those stories is one way the Council Bluffs Community School District is working to lower its dropout rates with students who are struggling to stay in school.

Selected editorials from Oregon newspapers:

The (Salem) Statesman Journal, Oct. 9, on the corporate tax proposal and school funding:

Public school classrooms in Oregon are overcrowded. Our school year is shockingly short, and our school dropout rate is abysmal.

But Measure 97 on the Nov. 8 ballot is not the answer, even though it would add $6 billion to the state's two-year budget.