Students (n=570, aged 12-16) who attended university-sponsored science and mathematics summer classes reported on their subsequent status at their regular schools pertaining to credit and placement issues. Advanced placement was given more often than credit, although in most cases both were awarded, particularly for high school level coursework.…

Five years of block scheduling at Roy J. Wasson High School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, has reduced the stress levels for staff and students. Increases have occurred in the average daily attendance rate, in the percentage of students on the honor roll, and in the college-enrollment rate. A sidebar lists 10 suggestions for making the transition…

Opening up advanced placement English to all students willing to undergo a rigorous summer and yearlong regimen of writing and reading provided a Richmond (California) high school teacher with some positive insights about cooperative learning activities for mixed-ability students. Giving students the chance to work at the highest academic levels…

This panel interview from the Indiana University Summer Arts Institute examines unique needs of high school students in the Indiana University Campus Program, including peer group establishment, selection of a leader and staff, and provision of challenging confidence-building experiences in what is for many students the most competitive…

Shows that high school students who took a specialized high school course in intensive journalistic writing passed the Advanced Placement English Language and Composition Examination at higher rates (from 1991 to 1997) than did test-takers who took AP English Composition courses as a preparation for the exam. (SR)

Of the roughly 750,000 students who took more than 1.2 million Advanced Placement (AP) exams in May 2000, only 36,000 were African American. The passing rate for AP classes nationwide is 65 percent; the rate is about 33 percent for Black students and about 50 percent for Latino students. (JM)

Recommends that secondary educators interested in high school reform should read three reports (two regarding advanced placement and one regarding minority achievement), and should become familiar with a reading program (the Formula-Three Language Processing program) with documented success at all grade levels. (SR)

Argues that education reform cannot be limited to what goes on in the classroom. Contends that innovation does not inevitably lead to change until and unless the innovators take back control over factors exogenous to the classroom, factors such as pre-college selection, outside testing, accreditation requirements, and class size. (Author/WRM)

Contends that high school psychology instruction has grown stronger by accounting for three important issues: (1) the content taught in high school psychology as opposed to the college-level content; (2) the training of high school psychology teachers; and (3) the role of the College Board's AP Examination in Psychology. (CMK)

Introduces a web site designed to teach descriptive chemistry through testing. (YDS)

Standard methods of teaching an introductory course in computer science, designed to introduce computer programming as a tool for mathematicians and engineers at the university level, are unnecessarily complicated and difficult. They lack a common thread that unifies each unit of material and frequently make use of mathematical notation, technical…

Over the past two decades, remarkable strides have been made in examining, documenting, and incorporating race and gender issues in history courses, but it is time to take a look at the ways in which these curricular and pedagogical changes have impacted the Advanced Placement United States History Examination. This paper focuses on three…

As a superintendent of the Bellevue School District, the author discusses the Bellevue School District's curriculum and its ongoing development. The mission of the Bellevue School District is to give every student the kind of education traditionally reserved for America's elite class or, stated another way, to give every student a first-rate,…

The discrepancies between test-based and teacher-based criteria of high achievement are well-documented for students of all ages. This study seeks to determine whether certain high school students who score high on tests of academic achievement are more likely than others to be nominated for advanced academic programs by their teachers. Using…

The Arizona Minority Education Policy Analysis Center (AMEPAC) is a policy center of the Arizona Commission for Postsecondary Education. AMEPAC's mission is to stimulate, through studies, statewide discussion, and debate, constructive improvement of Arizona minority students' early awareness, access, and achievement throughout the educational…