We present five frameworks for explaining which U.S. states adopted high school exit examination policies at particular points in time. The frameworks correspond to issues of academic achievement, education spending, economic conditions, racial/ethnic heterogeneity and policy diffusion. Using event history techniques we find that states with…

This paper explores some of the obstacles to implementation of tests required for graduation by describing state programs in existence as of October 1994 in which students were required to pass a test in order to receive a high school diploma. A survey of state testing directors used to construct the State Student Assessment Program Database was…