Colleges and universities typically record student achievement through a system of number and grades. This system of documenting student learning is based on the assumption that students progressively carry with them and build on their learning as they advance through courses. However, learning is more than an aggregation of courses and credits.…

In this article, the author features Bard High School Early College, the first public school in the country to offer a free, full-time college curriculum--and all the credits that go with it--to high schoolers. In Bard's four-year program, students race through high school requirements in 9th and 10th grades, then take college courses in 11th and…

An increasing number of urban districts are scrapping traditional high school grade structures, changing their retention policies, and devising more flexible routes toward graduation to address high dropout rates. Educators in Baltimore, Boston, Houston and Rochester, New York say they are particularly focused on the 9th grade, a year when many…

Using the data from Achieving the Dream: Community Colleges Count, this issue of "Data Notes" is the second of a two-part series investigating the characteristics of late stop-outs--students who accumulate at least 30 credits within the first two years, only to stop out without completing credentials or transferring. The data show that male…

This study provides data from an existing review of secondary data and a survey of dual enrollment managers on the topic of Mississippi community and junior colleges' dual enrollment collaborations with secondary schools and parents of home-schooled students. Dual enrollment, also known as dual credit, concurrent enrollment, and credit based…

This research brief examines high school students' coursetaking in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. As technical and scientific innovation increasingly drives the global economy, educators and experts in technical fields have expressed concern about the academic preparation of U.S. students in STEM fields. Using…

In 2003, the School of Human Sciences, Waseda University, Japan, established the e-School, Japan's first complete undergraduate correspondence courses enabling students to acquire their bachelor degrees solely through e-learning. Supported by the widespread availability of high-speed Internet connections, it has become possible to transmit…

A social constructionist perspective was taken in the current investigation of 5,329 male and female high school students. Gender differences were investigated in financial knowledge, self-efficacy, and behavior after studying a financial planning curriculum. Females gained more knowledge on credit, auto insurance, and investments, although males…

The number of students accumulating credit card debt--and the amount of debt itself--on college campuses is increasing. If high-risk credit and health behavior are associated, health behavior interventions might apply to high-risk credit behavior. Objective: The authors' purpose was to examine these possible associations. Participants and Methods:…

Fifteen recommendations, based on a two-year study, are presented on the credit and credential system in postsecondary education. Objectives are to increase the awareness of employers and those concerned with postsecondary education of the educational and social significance of credentialing educational accomplishment and to help institutions…

This latest annually produced Iowa Kids Count data book, "Iowa Kids Count 2009: Trends in the Well-Being of Iowa Children," provides data on 18 different indicators of child and family well-being at the United States, Iowa, substate and county-level. The 18 indicators presented in the data book contain an expanse of data from economic,…

This inaugural issue of the Journal of the National Institute on the Assessment of Experiential Learning begins with the article, "Semantic and Conceptual Ambiguities in Prior Learning Assessment" (Richard J. Hamilton). It is the basis for a session presented at the National Institute on the Assessment of Experiential Learning in June…

This brief summarizes some of the highlights of the book "State Tax Relief for the Poor," by David S. Liebschutz and Steven D. Gold. It examines the policies that states can adopt to provide tax relief for the poor. Although poor families are generally exempt from the federal income tax, they still pay a large amount of taxes to state and local…

The SMART (Summer Migrants Access Resources through Technology) project provides Texas migrant students with supplemental instruction using a multi-media, nontraditional approach. Migrant students who remain in Texas during the summer are taught in their homes or other sites via televised instruction with additional instructional support from…

This guide is the standard reference work for recognizing learning acquired by military personnel for conversion to academic credit in degree work at colleges and universities. This volume contains recommendations for formal courses offered by the Air Force, the Coast Guard, the Marine Corps, and the Department of Defense in 1990 and later years.…