Have efforts to improve schools neglected high achievers? A growing chorus of critics is voicing concern for the achievement gap, but not the gap between well-to-do and poor students, or white and non-white students. The gap that most worries them is the one between U.S. students and students in other industrialized nations. Among the 34 nations…

Describes study investigating why some academically able students attending "star" public high schools are rejected by selective colleges even though their SAT scores are often much higher than those admitted from other high schools. (PKP)

Describes a New Mexico high school's method of handling advanced-placement courses in a 2X4 block schedule that raises passing rates, compensates for loss of contact time, and gives most students opportunities to take desired AP courses. AP electives demand prerequisites and are scheduled only during spring semester. (MLH)

Given only correlation coefficient, one cannot infer causality. This lesson has been lost on Secretary of Education Richard Riley, who recently intoned that "taking rigorous mathematics courses ... early in secondary schools is a gateway to college and future employment." Students taking such classes have probably already been identified…

Opening up advanced placement English to all students willing to undergo a rigorous summer and yearlong regimen of writing and reading provided a Richmond (California) high school teacher with some positive insights about cooperative learning activities for mixed-ability students. Giving students the chance to work at the highest academic levels…

Discusses possible reasons for U.S. gifted students' underachievement on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Homework, class time, and television viewing are similar elsewhere. Previous learning, negative reform effects, middle-school practices, nonrigorous coursework, curriculum deficiencies, and stress on potential over…

Examines tracking's effects on end-of-year 10th-grade mathematics achievement for a sample of over 3,900 public school students, using 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study data. Although there is clearly a case for detracking on equity grounds, students currently in uppertrack classes may suffer major losses in achievement test scores. (26…

Successful block scheduling depends on provision of initial and ongoing instructional training. Teaching strategies should vary and include cooperative learning, the case method, the socratic seminar, synectics, concept attainment, the inquiry method, and simulations. Recommendations for maximizing block scheduling are outlined. (Contains 52…