Argues that student who invested 12 years working hard, studying, and obeying teachers deserves diploma even though diploma's value may be suspect. In some states, like Alabama, value of 12-year investment can be reduced to zero by single multiple-choice test score. Schools must treat all students fairly by considering multiple intelligences and…

Recent transfer of nursing education from hospitals to college and university programs in Australia gave rise to several issues: debate over curriculum length and content, lack of faculty with advanced degrees, scant nursing research, and some reluctance to accept nursing faculty in the academic community. (SK)

Examines issues of curricular and instructional validity, criticism of diploma-sanctioned tests, teaching the test, and the role of the courts in new solutions. Contends diploma tests may ensure that students are given the opportunity to learn those skills essential to becoming a productive member of society. (209 references) (MLF)

Describes how students at a California high school developed and wrote a bill, currently being carried in the state legislature by the students' state assemblywoman, which would make multicultural studies a graduation requirement. (SR)

A new approach for examining the quality of judgments from standard-setting judges using a Binomial Trials Model (BTM) is presented and illustrated with 26 judges from the Georgia High School Graduation Test. Results suggest that the BTM provides information not available from other methods. (SLD)

Survey responses from 55 Dutch agricultural vocational schools show that administrators believe that transition, the ability of students to change between training modes or qualification levels easily, has enhanced the flexibility of the qualification system developed under recent national reforms. (SLD)

The demand for higher graduation requirements for high school students presents a challenge for career and technical teacher educators as they equip preservice teachers with the knowledge and skills needed to meet new goals. Exemplary teacher education programs are focusing on meeting state standards and linking with industry. (Author/JOW)

Examines the status of Broward County (Florida) Public Schools high school students, who must satisfy the district's algebra requirement in order to graduate. Data indicate that the majority of district students are meeting the new, higher standards; 80% of seniors in school year 1998-99 had previously completed the algebra requirement. (MLH)

Describes the role of the Carnegie unit in enforcing standards regarding high school instruction and college admission. Reviews growing criticisms of the unit's standards regarding the emphases on time spent in courses, course labels instead of content, the current instructional organization of discrete 40-minute segments, and units earned instead…

In this paper, the authors present a complex set of interactions, agents, pressures, and contextual factors that intersect during the earliest years of major effort at education policy reform. While the focus of this analysis is exclusively on state policy changes and school district response in New York, the issues involved are all but universal…

This paper describes efforts by the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges and the State Academic Senate for California Community Colleges to implement a state-mandated information literacy graduation requirement. Starting in 1996, there were comprehensive studies and state-wide hearings, leading up to an expected implementation…

High school graduation is an important milestone for students and their families, and plans for family gatherings and celebrations are often made early in the senior year. Despite the anticipation, some seniors will not graduate because of insufficient credits, disciplinary action, or failure to pass a state exam. Breaking the news to students and…

The National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) has conducted four studies of state graduation requirements for students with disabilities. This document synthesizes findings reported in NCEO's most recent 2007 study, "Revisiting Graduation Requirements and Diploma Options for Youth with Disabilities: A National Study," and the…

The following paper provides a case study of the resistance of the New York Performance Standards Consortium to the state's unitary high stakes testing policy from 1998 to 2006. After detailing the history of the grass roots actions undertaken by the group of alternative high schools called "The Consortium," the analysis seeks to apply…

This qualitative study examined the perceptions of educators and parents of the California High School (CAHSEE) requirements for students with disabilities. In the state of California, all seniors who graduate from a public high school are required the pass the CAHSEE in order to receive a high school diploma. This graduation requirement is a…