The second phase of a new national survey conducted among college instructors and employers shows that 78% of college faculty and 62% of employers believe that public high schools are not doing enough to prepare students for the expectations they will face in college and the working world. Only roughly one in four recent high school grads report…

This study examined one public school system's change in its bell scheduling format from a seven period day to block scheduling. The data collected was from a three year period of the grade 10 students passing the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System exam. Students in Massachusetts must pass the mathematics and English/language arts…

According to a 2000 community college study by Miami Dade College (FL) President Emeritus Robert McCabe, 41 percent of students entering community colleges are underprepared in at least one basic skill area. A three-year study of community college students, published in 2009 by the National Center for Education Statistics, reported that 41 percent…

This article investigates several questions regarding the impact of different item formats on measurement characteristics. Constructed response (CR) items and multiple choice (MC) items obviously differ in their formats and in the resources needed to score them. As such, they have been the subject of considerable discussion regarding the impact of…

Mathematics education is a critical public policy issue in the U.S. and the pressures facing students and schools are compounded by increasing expectations for college attendance after high school. In this study, we examine whether policy efforts to constrain the high school curriculum in terms of course requirements and mandatory exit exams…

This technical appendix provides more detail on the reading reforms implemented under the Blueprint for Student Success project in the San Diego Unified School District (SDUSD) between 2000 and 2005. It provides details on the dataset, the econometric methods the authors employed, and the results, which are also detailed and discussed in the main…

To assess the raised expectations of college and career readiness for all students, a group of American Diploma Project (ADP) Network states formed the ADP Assessment Consortium in 2005. The Consortium created Algebra I and II end-of-course exams, based in large part on Achieve's ADP mathematics benchmarks, which would provide an honest assessment…

"Perspective" is a monthly e-newsletter presenting news and views from Achieve. This month's issue commences with a report stating how the number of states that ensure the college and career readiness of their students has increased since Achieve first started tracking progress on the college- and career-ready policy agenda five years…

There is no disputing that for high school students to be college and career ready, they need adequate time to learn, and individualized attention to meet each student's academic goals, learning styles, and social needs. Over the past decade, Education Resource Strategies (ERS) has partnered with urban schools and districts to improve their use of…

This fact sheet highlights the statistics of the current status of high schools in the United States. It provides information on the following variables: (1) demography of high school students; (2) students with disabilities; (3) high school student achievement; (4) the schools; (5) school funding; (6) high school graduation rate; (7) high school…

For more than thirty years, Communities in Schools (CIS) has been dedicated to giving every child a chance to graduate by targeting those factors that are most likely to cause a student to drop out, and providing what it sees as the "five basics" for student achievement: (1) a caring relationship with an adult; (2) a safe place to learn…

This article provides a course overview of English 304 & Communications 250: Professional Rhetorics. This course was a pilot project instituted at Clemson University in spring of 2008. The project integrally linked English 304 (Business Writing) and Communications 250 (Public Speaking), requiring the same students to be enrolled in both 3…

Believing that accountability could be a vehicle for change, the California Department of Education (CDE) requires all high school students to pass the California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) in order to graduate. In doing so, California joins many others states in mandating a high school exit exam as a current or future requirement for…

The author reports on a study released in April 2009 that suggests that California's high school exit exams are affecting some student demographic groups more than others. The California study, which was released by the Institute for Research on Education Policy and Practice at Stanford University, is the latest in a small spate of studies…

Deaf students consistently score lower on standardized measures of reading comprehension than their hearing peers. Most of the studies that have been conducted to explain this phenomenon have focused on variables within the reader, and important differences have been found between deaf and hearing readers. More recently, in the face of…