This booklet is an explanation of what the Alaska High School Graduation Qualifying Examination means to Alaskans and how it fits into a larger school accountability reform initiative. The high school class of 2002 is the first group of students who will need to pass the High School Graduation Qualifying Examination to receive a high school…

This report outlines student performance results from the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) for the 1997-1998 school year as well as results from the Spanish TAAS tests and the Biology I and Algebra I end-of-course examinations. Data represent test results for students not in special education. The chapters are: (1) "Executive…

The stakes for California's schools and students have never been higher. More than 1,600 California schools are now on a statewide "watch list" for failing to meet new federal standards, a number that is expected to triple in less than 5 years. Many of these schools face federal sanctions or even takeover by the state. This year's high school…

High school graduation requirements in states throughout the U.S. were reviewed to better understand how well they align with what students need to be successful in college or the workplace. It was found that no state requires its graduates to take the courses that reflect the real-world demands of work and postsecondary education. …

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the proliferation of high school exit exams, the success of school choice initiatives, and a dozen other smaller if more bitter battles, education has become one of the hottest policy topics in Washington. That means there is a booming market for education experts, especially those who claim…

This paper uses extensive student-level micro databases of three international student achievement tests to estimate heterogeneity in the effect of external exit examinations on student performance along three dimensions. First, quantile regressions show that the effect tends to increase with student ability--but it does not differ substantially…

For more than two decades, many states have required students to pass exit examinations to obtain high school diplomas. Despite these sweeping policy initiatives, we know relatively little about whether such policies are related to the chances that high school students will obtain diplomas. The authors estimate the association between high school…

This article is based upon a secondary analysis of three successive cohorts of the Youth Cohort Study of England and Wales and examines the effects of social class and ethnicity on gender differences in General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) attainment for those who left school in 1997, 1999 and 2001 respectively. The article shows that…

The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of high-stakes tests on teachers' instructional practices. Data were obtained from a survey instrument given to a stratified random sample of Mississippi social studies teachers who teach the same content that is tested on their state's high school graduation examination. An analysis found…

This general achievement trends profile includes information that the Center on Education Policy (CEP) and the Human Resources Research Organization (HumRRO) obtained from states from fall 2008 through April 2009. Included herein are: (1) Bullet points summarizing key findings about achievement trends in that state at three performance…

A cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted of Gordon, Kane, and Staiger's (2006) proposal to raise student achievement by identifying and replacing the bottom quartile of novice teachers, using value-added assessment of teacher performance. The cost effectiveness of this proposal was compared to the cost effectiveness of voucher programs, charter…

Departments of mass communication employ about l5 different types of assessment to measure either their students' individual achievement or the curriculum and teaching. Of these, exit examinations for seniors have raised the most apprehension. This paper reports the results of a national survey of 276 four-year colleges and universities teaching…

State-imposed educational reforms, including mandatory entry and exit testing, have had a major impact on Florida institutions of higher education. The use of the College-Level Academic Skills Test (CLAST) is described. (MLW)

Tests like the Ohio Graduation Test are part of what has become known as the "standards-based" reform movement in education. Simply put, they allow states to measure whether or not students are learning according to whatever set of standards, benchmarks and indicators are adopted by that state. They also help meet, in part, the reporting…

There was a time when virtually all students pursuing the master's degree were required to submit to and successfully complete comprehensive examinations, most of which featured both written and oral elements. In this more traditional period, the acquisition of the master's degree was in large part a qualifying ritual for admission to a Ph.D.…