The International Baccalaureate (IB) organization, best known in the United States for its prestigious two-year diploma program for juniors and seniors, will enter new terrain this fall as it formally rolls out an initiative centered on a variety of career pathways that includes engineering, culinary arts, and automotive technology. The move comes…

The authors, pioneers in detracking and in shrinking achievement gaps, pose a question: Is it possible to have all students in a large high school successfully complete a challenging curriculum that gives them practice in the habits and skills necessary for success in college? The answer, they say, "is a resounding yes." This article…

This article describes a nearly decade-long partnership between three institutions representing school, public, and academic settings in Westchester County, New York. The program, designed to improve the academic performance of local high school students, is unique due to the extensive contact students have with academic librarians during the…

At a time of mushrooming interest in Advanced Placement (AP) tests, a new book, "AP: A Critical Examination of the Advanced Placement Program," assembles studies on how capable the program is of meeting the increasingly diverse expectations held up for it. Growing out of a symposium held at Harvard in 2007, the book focuses on AP science…

The nation's goal of achieving educational equity has been both elusive and complex. U.S. schools are becoming more, not less, segregated, and the racial isolation of Black and Latino students from White students is a national trend. For two decades, the Rockville Centre School District in New York has engaged in reforms that were designed to…

This article describes the Center for Benefit-Cost Studies of Education, at Teachers College, Columbia University. Launched last year by a pair of economists, the center specializes in calculating and comparing the long- and short-term costs--and probable payoffs--of different educational strategies that promise to improve students' lives. Studies…

More students are taking Advanced Placement tests, but the proportion of tests receiving what is deemed a passing score has dipped, and the mean score is down for the fourth year in a row. Data released here this week by the New York City-based nonprofit organization that owns the AP brand shows that a greater-than-ever proportion of students…

This article describes the educators mixed reviews regarding the audit system planned by the College Board to scrutinize high school Advanced Placement courses. Teachers of AP courses are required to submit materials to the College Board proving that their course syllabuses meet the program's curricular requirements. It is the most extensive…

This document represents the first in a series of design briefs on models for early college high schools. The briefs focus on the academic and organizational design of the college component and tie those key features to a sustainable financing model. By engaging students in up to two years of demanding college-level work while still in high…

An advanced placement calculus program is described that incorporates IBM personal computers, conference telephone connections, modems that transmit computer signals over the phone lines, OPTEL graphics that allow the users to "write" on their computer screens, and a sophisticated package of calculus software used for homework…

In 1984-85, a research project was conducted in New York State to develop a summary of existing formal agreements in occupational programs between secondary and postsecondary institutions, and to determine characteristics important to the success of existing agreements. Survey responses were obtained from 45 two-year colleges and 37 secondary…