Across Massachusetts, legislators, policymakers, educators, families, and communities are engaged in important conversations about whether to continue using student performance on the MCAS tests as part of the state's high-school graduation requirements. This document presents lessons drawn from 15-plus years of research on educational opportunity…

In a bid to make high school fruitful and engaging for every student, the Indiana State Board of Education in December 2024 approved a single new diploma that will be effective for all seniors in the 2028-29 school year. The diploma doubles elective credits to 12 to allow more flexibility for students to tailor their learning to their goals. They…

This qualitative case study uses comparative case study methodology with discourse analysis to compare Arizona and New Jersey regulations, policies, procedures, and practices influencing high school graduation rates for Hispanic and Native American youth. National and state reports (NCES, 2019) indicated a gap between high school graduation rates…

Specialized learning institutions (SLIs) feature organizational cultures, learning environments, and Postgraduation expectations that typically differ from traditional 4-year universities. For students pursuing foreign language (FL) study within an SLI, coursework is frequently accompanied by a range of nonacademic tasks that are required for…

Dialogue, listening, and compromise are essential elements of living in a democracy. In a highly partisan time, is it possible to reestablish common ground when it comes to how best to educate our children in and for democracy? Authors Brendan Sheran, Ashley Carey, Jack Schneider, Rebecca Woodland, and Kathryn McDermott, who are affiliated with…

A product of the 2016 Session of the General Assembly, the New Economy Workforce Credential Grant (WCG) Program represents the nation's first pay-for-performance model for funding noncredit workforce training that leads to a credential in a high-demand field. Using a two-pronged approach, the WCG works to increase program completion and credential…

This brief focuses on the important role that math requirements contribute to inequity in access to college, in particular the value placed on calculus, even though it is not an essential course for students who are seeking non-STEM degrees. The boost earned by students who are fortunate enough to have access to calculus, a benefit unequally…

Since 2019, the Washington State Board of Education has engaged stakeholders in creating a vision for mastery-based learning (MBL) that sparked pilot programs, outcome evaluations, and a push for legislative action. By decoupling how students earn high school credits from the amount of time spent in classroom seats, the board also sought to boost…

The final report of the "Australian Universities Accord" consultation process highlighted the impact of work-integrated learning requirements on students' ability to complete professional qualifications, conceptualising equity in terms of a need to ensure 'equitable participation'. This article uses the case of social work education to…

Purpose: This study aims to assess the spread of environmental literacy graduation requirements at public universities in the USA, and to highlight factors that mediate the adoption of this curriculum innovation. Design/methodology/approach: The author analyzed the undergraduate general education curriculum requirements at all 549 public…

For many higher education institutions, certifying degree completion is both challenging and time consuming. Depending on the size of the institution, graduation processing can take multiple staff days to complete. In an age of limited staffing, registrars must leverage technology to handle these increasing workloads. Such was the case with a…

In response to Substitute Senate Bill (SSB) 5243, the Washington State Board of Education (SBE) developed recommendations on expanding flexibility and student choice in meeting high school graduation requirements through the High School and Beyond Plan (HSBP). The HSBP is a requirement to earn a high school diploma and serves as a personalized…

The Washington State Board of Education (SBE) is tasked with rulemaking and assurance of compliance under the Program of Basic Education (RCW 28A.150.220). In carrying out this responsibility, the Board establishes policies and procedures for the approval of school district and local education agency (LEA) programs for entitlement to state basic…

In May and June 2021, the author conducted a survey of the computing and mathematical graduation requirements of 500 Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) programs in the U.S. to determine alignment among these requirements and those recommended by ACM/IEEE-CS's Computer Science Curricula 2013 guidelines and ABET's Criteria for…

M-DCPS had 21,354 graduates in the 2022-2023 academic year. Ninety two percent of students achieved a standard diploma (24 credits). Some students opted for an international curriculum pathway, with 846 (4%) attaining an Advanced International Certificate of Education (AICE) diploma, and 436 (2%) obtaining an International Baccalaureate (IB)…