Twenty-two states continue to require exit exams, despite ongoing controversy surrounding their use. In all, exit exams affect nearly two thirds of high school students in this country. Many states, however, offer some alternative route or routes to a diploma, by which at least some students may bypass the exam requirement. This study examines the…

Patricia Graham's recent defense of public education in the United States shows that public education has been responsive to society's demands and supports the earlier observation of Charles Burgess and Merle Borrowman that the dominant educational ideology is a function of the nation's need for human resources. When the nation has clear and…