This report of a case study examined the expectations and lived experiences of students who had moved into the first year of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) in an international school in Turkey. Although most students were making the move from the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) within the school, about one-third…

Futurists, policy makers, and other stakeholders propose sweeping reforms of the American education system. However, there is little evidence that the current add-on, underfunded system will reverse the failure pattern among children of color and those living in poverty. This article presents a dramatic and feasible proposal to establish a…

The policies and procedures for granting advanced standing at Empire State College are based on three requirements. First, the learnings for which recognition is requested must be articulated. Second, the learnings must be pertinent to the student's goals and consistent with the educational goals of the college. Third, evidence must be generated…

This booklet discusses the need to expand advanced placement programs for high school students and gives some examples of programs that are giving more students the opportunity to take advanced placement courses. The greatest challenge is to increase the numbers of poor and minority students taking Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate,…

Reports on a study validating the new (1980) Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Examination. Shows that the study demonstrates the rigor of the new exam. (RL)

Notes that because of the status enjoyed by the Advanced Placement (AP) program and the reverence typically granted its values among secondary teachers, reconfiguring the AP English examination has the potential to genuinely improve English instruction--especially writing instruction--in American high schools. (SG)

Researchers conducted two studies in Broward County (Fla.) Public Schools. The first study examined the utility of the Preliminary SAT (PSAT) for predicting future success on college entrance examinations and in advanced placement (AP) courses. The second examined the relationship between PSAT scores and subsequent year AP enrollment status for…

This paper presents the annual report of the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) for 2010. Four years ago, NMSI was just an idea. NMSI not only hit the ground running in 2007, it picked up the best ideas in the country and rolled them out in schools and universities from coast to coast. Within a year of its creation, NMSI had awarded…

This article describes a study that examined evidence of the enduring effects of United World Colleges (UWC) education, arguably the only purely ideology-driven international education model. The study adopted an interpretive phenomenological analysis of an autoethnography by a UWC graduate. The study found that the graduate has incubated her own…

Members of the National Council for Geographic Education have been instrumental in the creation, launch, and early success of Advanced Placement Human Geography. Annual meetings of the Council have served as a forum for spreading the word about the course and its follow-up national examination and in helping teachers develop content confidence and…

If a school improvement plan includes input from all stakeholders and focuses on data-driven processes that are linked to teacher appraisal, it can be powerful in leading the school toward the common mission of achieving student success. Linking the school improvement plan to the teacher appraisal process creates a system whereby all individuals…

The perception that the Geneva, Switzerland-based International Baccalaureate Organization's academic programs offer just what American students need in today's more globally competitive environment seems to be catching on. After decades of obscurity and slow expansion, the pace of growth in IB--including courses of study for the primary and…

Scaling Effective Programs is a category of giving that is quite unique. Philanthropists have many different interests that guide their giving, but Scaling Effective Programs offers an approach that can produce lasting transformation. This guide speaks to funders who: (1) view their giving as venture capital that stimulates other giving; (2) want…

School administrators across the U.S. are asking literature teachers to become reading teachers, and not surprisingly, many secondary teachers are having difficulty with this transition. The author's transition to reading teacher was hurried by her dissatisfaction with lessons that featured question-answer discussions. Curious about how students…