As states move to implement the Common Core State Standards, key challenges remain. One is how to make sure a high school diploma acknowledges what students have achieved. Should states adopt a two tiered diploma, in which students who pass internationally aligned Common Core exams at a career- and college-ready level receive an…

Believing that accountability could be a vehicle for change, the California Department of Education (CDE) requires all high school students to pass the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) in order to graduate. In doing so, California joins many others states in mandating a high school exit exam as a current or future requirement for…

Summarizes and supports the position of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Project Committee, which favors a state-provided educational framework of goals, funding, and monitoring technical assistance, and the establishment by local school districts of their own instructional programs that meet individual needs rather than…

Comments on the emerging concept in education of teacher malpractice, and identifies ten ways that teachers can be assured of entertaining a lawsuit in situations involving academic injury to students. (NKA)

This book describes a strategy for school reform, "planning backwards from exhibitions," which is a collective invention of the Coalition of Essential Schools. The strategy is based on the principle that graduation from high school should be based on genuine achievement. The first article, by Joseph P. McDonald, explains that the purpose of…

Argues that under certain conditions, high standards and demanding assessment can hurt rather than help low-achieving students. Discusses three practices educators and policymakers should avoid: requiring students to repeat a grade, placing students in low-track classes, and holding students accountable for material not yet taught. (Contains 13…

Higher education must make as clear as possible what it intends to do, can do, and will do, and its responsibility for the admission, retention, and graduation of students, planning equal emphasis and enthusiasm on helping students achieve well-defined standards of excellence. (Author/MSE)

A judicial decision on issues raised by state diploma denial found that competency testing of Florida's high school students as a graduation requirement violated due process by not providing students with adequate notice. The court prescribed some degree of curricular validity to determine whether the test covered materials actually taught.…

Proficiency, or competency, testing is a recent attempt to meet the public demand for accountability. But instead of placing the responsibility on the educational organization, competency testing appears to be a sophisticated approach to holding students and teachers accountable. Although some form of student assessment is needed, it is not yet…

In setting performance standards for schoolchildren, the school system not only announces what students must know; it specifies what it presumes it can teach. Tests of competency should be merely a monitoring device to indicate whether the system is meeting its obligation to students. (Author)

Argues that state accountability systems that require students to pass high-stakes tests or face retention, mandatory remediation, or denial of diploma fail to provide students with adequate opportunities to learn. Provides hypothetical examples of flawed logic of test-driven student learning opportunities. Discusses test-taking problems for…

Suggests that legislative involvement in community college operations stems from fiscal responsibility. Describes the structure of higher education in Florida and the development of the College Level Academic Skills Test. Discusses the adoption and results of the Gordon Rule, which establishes English and mathematics requirements for the first two…

This article identifies several reasons for demands for teacher and student accountability. Minimum competency testing of students and teachers is discussed within the context of the accountability movement, and the implications of such testing as an evaluation tool are considered. (IAH)

The use of competency-based transcripts is favored over differentiated diplomas to designate differences in student performance. Issues discussed surrounding the use of differentiated diplomas for high school graduation include the actual importance of functional literacy level for job success, the failure of prospective employers to verify…

Explains declining academic standards as at least partially the result of two decades of innovative teaching. Describes the predicament of high school graduates who cannot read. Explains the hazards of affective, innovative teaching, and the anticipated benefits of returning to traditional education mixed with limited and proven innovative…