Development of benchtop, portable Fourier transform nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and infrared (IR) spectrometers has opened up opportunities for creating university-high school partnerships that provide high school students with hands-on experience with NMR and IR instruments. With recent changes to the international baccalaureate chemistry…

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…

This article describes a partnership involving a college and its surrounding public high schools in order to offer a model for transforming professional development initiatives into collaborative, reciprocal community engagement opportunities. This ongoing partnership addresses the shared goal of improving the mathematical college readiness of…

The Advanced Placement Program is growing at a striking rate in US high schools and at the same time being abandoned by high-status schools. This paper explores the history of the Advanced Placement Program, from its roots in the 1950s as a programme for challenging high-achieving students at high-status schools, through its equity-motivated…

This article reviews history, models, and benefits of credit-based transition programs between high schools and institutions of higher education. The goal of these programs is to enable high school students to take college courses and earn college credit while still in high school, thereby easing the transition to college through a variety of…

For years, only a handful of the highest achievers graduated from high school with college courses on their transcripts. However, as states strive to blur the line between high school graduation requirements and college expectations, such dual-enrollment courses are quickly becoming part of a broader strategy to help more students become…

Data-driven decision-making, targeted staff development, collaborative leadership, and the sheer will of committed staff members have launched Wheaton High School on a promising trajectory. Located in Montgomery County, Maryland, a predominately affluent area that has more than 20 high schools, Wheaton has always received attention, but…

Syracuse University's Project Advance (one of the first high school college cooperative programs in the United States through which college courses, taught in high schools by high school faculty, are taken for college credit) is described. (MLW)

The International Baccalaureate (IB) program, based on a set of exams prepared in Geneva, Switzerland, was originally designed as a standard curriculum by which students from all over the world could meet graduation requirements in their own countries. IB students may receive up to one year's credit in American Colleges. (MLW)

Minnesota high school juniors and seniors can enroll full- or part-time without cost in all public and some private postsecondary education institutions. The expanded choice increases the options available to students. (MLF)

The director of the College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) Program for 15 years describes what the program looks like today, why its growth has been steady, and how it has changed. Scholastic Aptitude Test score ranges and Achievement Test Score ranges among AP candidates and college-bound seniors are compared. (Author/MLW)

A plan for the academic magnet high school (AMHS) program offered by the Charleston County (South Carolina) School District is presented in this report. A program overview describes general goals for students, which would emphasize thinking skills in all academic core areas, problem-solving skills in mathematics and research-based science,…

The future prosperity of the United States relies strongly upon the success of its higher education system. With an increasingly technological and competitive world economy, more jobs require the advanced skills and knowledge that higher education provides. Yet despite the significant efforts toward improving elementary and secondary education in…

This panel interview from the Indiana University Summer Arts Institute discusses objectives for establishing on a university campus an early-access program for high school students with exceptional talent in visual arts and science. Operational details of the Indiana University Campus Program and political issues are discussed by panel members.…

Dual-credit programs offer high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn college credits while also using the credits toward high school graduation. This article examines the growing trend of dual-credit programs, surveying states' initiatives, quality issues, and types of courses offered. (EV)