"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Teacher Excellence for All Children: Senior Democrat Offers Legislation Featuring Teacher Incentives and Induction…

The numbers are astonishing and unfortunately all too familiar--while four in five high school students expect to complete a college degree, fewer than a third will actually emerge from the high-school-to-college pipeline with a baccalaureate six years after high school graduation. A growing number of parents see a college degree as absolutely…

This report summarizes the results of academic, career and technical, adult education, and developmental education programs that were reviewed during fiscal year 2005. Summaries include both program strengths and the common challenges colleges face in keeping instruction relevant while maintaining cost-efficiency. Specific quality improvements at…

The nation's 50 flagship universities serve disproportionately fewer low-income and minority students than in the past, according to this fifth report in the Education Trust's series on college results. Students in the entering and graduating classes at these schools look less and less like the state populations those universities were created to…

This report describes the Hispanic population in the United States. Data come mainly from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2000 Census and the March 2000 Current Population Survey and Report on Hispanics. Six sections include: (1) "Introduction" (overview of the U.S. Latino population, translating the data, and the U.S. agenda for Hispanics); (2) "Strong…

This brochure provides an overview of the American Diploma Project (ADP) Network and describes the urgent need for improvements to the U.S. educational pipeline to ensure that all students are adequately prepared for the demands of the twenty-first century workplace. Through the ADP Network, states will: (1) make their high school standards,…

In both France and Germany, the government, employers' organizations, and unions all participate in defining vocational diplomas based on a national framework of procedures of elaborating and standardizing titles. Important differences between the diploma definition processes in France and Germany may be identified. In Germany, the issue is…

This report discusses the findings of a survey of the 50 states that investigated how state graduation requirements apply to students with limited English proficiency (LEP) and whether students with LEP receive a standard diploma upon completion of their studies or some type of modified exit document. Results found a minimum graduation requirement…

This publication explores the experiences of Latinas in the United States' educational system, utilizing the concept of "possible selves" to investigate the lives of Latinas in school, at home, and with their peers. The concept of "possible selves" articulates the interaction between Latinas' current social contexts and their…

Standards-based curricula are being created throughout the world, and exit exams are being implemented in order to make sure that students meet those standards. There is a real potential that these standards will help improve the achievement of students, but there is also a possibility that these exams will be implemented in a way that will be…

This report describes the June 2000 White House Strategy Session on Improving Hispanic Student Achievement, which focused on developing effective strategies aligned with broad national education goals. The report outlines the challenges that the U.S. faces in increasing Hispanic student achievement, and it shares the many recommendations made by…

This report provides the Washington State legislature, the Governor, and other interested parties with an update on the accountability performance of each of the state's public baccalaureate institutions (Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Evergreen State College, Washington State University, Western Washington…

This booklet is the fifth in a series designed to assist parents who are home-schooling their adolescent children and deals with high school requirements and college admissions. The articles in this booklet are: (1) "'How Do We Know When We're Done?'," concerning criteria for high school graduation, college recommendations, and evaluating…

This study uses panel data to examine the direct link between state funding and graduation rates at four-year public institutions. When other factors are held constant, a $1,000 increase in state appropriations per FTE student at four-year public institutions is associated with about a one percentage point increase in graduation rates. This…

In this paper we review the research evidence on the effects of affirmative action in employment, university admissions, and government procurement. We consider effects on both "equity" (or distribution) as well as "efficiency." Overall, we find that affirmative action does redistribute jobs, university admissions, and…