By 2008, according to this policy brief, half the states are likely to have adopted high-school exit exams. These exams, which students must pass to graduate, are part of state accountability systems and are above and beyond the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act. This brief discusses high-school exit exams. It begins with answers to…

This document reports the levels of skill achievement by Florida students as measured by the High School Competency Test (HSCT) and explains the purpose, reporting, and use of HSCT test results. This test measures the ability of students to apply basic skills in communication and mathematics successfully in everyday life situations. Students in…

The colleges and universities of this country have made every effort to adjust their programs to help win the war. They are now fully cognizant of their great responsibility to help with those problems that are to follow the war. Problems in the field of education do not, however, fall into war versus postwar problems. Most of the problems which…

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (Table 153), there are almost as many states that require a minimum of 2 credits of science for graduation (22) as there are those that require 3 credits (21). According to the "2000 High School Transcript Study," between 1990 and 2000, not only did the average number of science credits…

A survey of physician's assistant program directors showed that they expect students to perform a history and physical examination, to establish a working diagnosis for most common problems and often to formulate a management plan. Extensive skills in patient education and counseling were also required. (MSE)

Reform efforts that manipulate time, content, materials, and teacher variables have the best chance of success in a period of fiscal steady state. (Author)

Articulation of secondary curricula and postsecondary studies in the United States and in the United Kingdom are compared. Articulation is seen as more important in the United States, in which secondary curricula are not as closely controlled or as uniform. In addition, progression to higher education is less common in the United Kingdom. (MSE)

Explores particular characteristics that better secondary schools might possess. The exploration is based on five conditions of better schools, all of which support teachers and students in developing effective schools. The author moves the responsibility for school reform from the school to the life and behaviors of the community in which the…

A study investigated the extent to which college student commitment to promoting racial understanding is related to the characteristics of entering students and of the college environment. Variables examined include demographic characteristics, living arrangements, institutional characteristics, peer attitudes, faculty attitudes, cocurricular…

Describes the development and impact of a fine arts high school graduation requirement. Discusses how music, drama, and art teachers relinquished some of their independence to form a fine arts department. Includes six strategies that might be used to institute a fine arts graduation requirement in other schools. (CFR)

This legal analysis examines a federal appeals court decision which found three student theses written as graduation requirements and filed in a library did not constitute printed publications and thus bar the patent application of the college professor involved. Institutions are urged to develop comprehensive patent policies for student and…

Transcript data were analyzed to determine changes in course taking among graduates of high schools including mostly lower achieving students in California, Florida, Missouri, and Pennsylvania, which adopted high graduation requirements in the 1980s. Average credits per student increased in all academic subjects, as did the courses' difficulty…

Describes Erie Community College's computerized system to help curriculum advisors better assess each student's reading and writing competency level and track their completion of required courses. Illustrates the system's provision of information on placement tests and developmental courses taken, and whether a required composition course has been…

A recent project collected and analyzed student success indicators generated by six high schools from a large, midwestern school corporation. Schools with clear student goals and enhanced professional-development opportunities made more successful transitions to block schedules. High achievers remained successful; low-achievers struggled under…

Historically, rural schools have been geographically and politically isolated to the extent that some might say that they have been the victims of, or beneficiaries from, an unstated government policy of benign neglect. Recently, conditions and relationships have changed with the enactment of state and federal accountability legislation and legal…