Discusses the constitutionality of community service activity as a graduation requirement. Analyzes issues in the "Steirer versus Bethlehem" case, in particular school district control of the curriculum, the first amendment and free speech, and the 13th amendment and involuntary servitude. (SR)

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Massachusetts) sends over 200 science and engineering students abroad each year to fulfill graduation requirements. Most go abroad for only two months, and the projects they work on, which are not necessarily related to their majors, are often for local businesses, government agencies, or other organizations.…

Although over 56 percent of freshman athletes graduated within 5 years (compared to 48 percent of all students), basketball players had a graduation rate of only 39 percent and football players 47 percent. Tables detail findings at Division I colleges and compare public and private colleges. (DB)

The article examines the proposed Student Athlete Right to Know Act, discusses the reasons for its development and support including the academic neglect of student athletes, and summarizes the effect the bill will have on intercollegiate athletics and higher education if it becomes law. (DB)

Many educators, parents, and students are upset with the National Collegiate Athletic Association Initial Eligibility Clearinghouse's rejection of some high school graduates' acceptable coursework. The NCAA should stop trying to dictate high school course content, increase scrutiny of its members, tighten academic requirements for on-campus…

Summarizes trends in New Zealand's Sixth Form Certificate assessment, explains teacher views about it and a sixth-form major subject area (science, represented by National Standards Syllabus biology, chemistry, and physics), and discusses findings in the context of the National Qualifications Framework. Official scrutiny over this exam has…

Identifies the textbooks professors use in education law courses, based on a survey of 110 members of the Education Law Association during 1996-97. Almost half preferred Alexander and Alexander's "American School Law," with McCarthy and Caqmbron-McCabe's "Public School Law" a close second. Only 44% required or suggested additional nontextbook…

Service learning is not immune from legal problems. In 1993, the third Circuit Court of Appeals quashed a lawsuit claiming a school's mandatory public-service requirement violated the 1st and 13th amendments. The most recent case was pursued against a New York district whose modest public-service requirement supposedly forced students into…

Analysis of placement and exit data on students with mental retardation (MR) found in annual reports on implementation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act indicated an upward trend in educating students with mental retardation in general education classrooms, a decline in graduation rates with a diploma or certificate, and a greater…

Key components of state high-stakes testing are analyzed in light of major federal statutes and court cases involving the rights of children with disabilities. Concludes with three state policy recommendations for testing students with disabilities: (1) avoid testing on a single criteria; (2) give adequate notice; and (3) do not test what has not…

After a decade of steady improvements, graduation rates among African American college students dropped in each of the past 2 years. Discusses the success of black women versus black men, differences in black student graduation rates, differences in black and white graduation rates, graduation rates at black colleges and universities (HBCUs), and…

Asserts that weaving incremental changes into the existing stable system of undergraduate education cannot result in significant improvement because systems determine outcomes. Encourages higher education leaders to abolish the course-credit system, explaining that altering graduation requirements changes everything else: student motivation and…

Year Twelve retention rates have a number of well-known deficiencies that prevent proper comparisons of school completion between school systems. This paper compares secondary school completion rates across Australian states and territories from 1989 to 2002 and adjusts "official" 2002 retention rates to take account of the acknowledged…

In this paper, we examine the antecedents and consequences of timing in the transition from high school to college. Using the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), we find that 16 percent of high school graduates postpone enrollment by seven months or more after completing high school. Delayers tend to have some common…

We examined the prevalence of specific career and technical education (CTE) programs and activities in American high schools in the late 1990s, following a decade of education reform. We also examined the extent to which CTE-oriented professional development is available to school staff and explored the other kinds of supports offered in schools…