Dropouts pay a steep price for leaving high school without their diplomas. In terms of wages, unemployment rates, and career mobility, the grim statistics have been lamented for decades. Society also suffers--more crime and welfare, fewer tax dollars, and lower voter turnout. Not every dropout faces a bleak future. But on balance, the…

Researchers target 9th grade as the make or break year for completing high school. During the 9th-grade year, many students for the first time have to earn passing grades in core courses, and these core courses are typically some of the toughest and most rigorous academic classes a student must take in high school. Furthermore, the rising use of…

Recent publications raise three concerns about the traditional senior year: (1) it lacks rigor; (2) it fails to provide students with clear pathways to work and postsecondary education; and (3) it does not prepare students for a successful transition from high school to postsecondary experiences. These documents suggest that high schools should…

The author considers that, although a year has passed since the President's Commission on Foreign Language and International Studies called for increased emphasis on languages, American schools and colleges have done little to implement this objective. Condensed from "Basic Education," January 1981, pp6-9. (SJL)

From more rigorous courses during the twelfth grade to individual projects and internships, school districts across the country are taking a variety of steps for the purpose of keeping seniors engaged in learning during their senior year of high school. At the same time, they are also warning students about the possibility that students who have…

For decades, educators have wrestled with how to handle the increasingly diverse religions of an increasingly diverse student body. Sometimes, the line between church and state--what schools can and cannot do under the Constitution--can feel confusing and slippery. Today, religion has become a subject one high school teachers describes as even…