Describes how veteran teacher Joan Vinson has made Advanced Placement (AP) a "cool thing to do" for minority students. With the help of private funding and a Texas-size enthusiasm, she is also convincing more teachers to take on the AP challenge, with a focus on quality over quantity. (EV)

In a more consistent and viable manner than ever before, education in Alabama is moving toward its ultimate goal of providing every student with a quality education, thereby preparing them for work, college, and life after high school. Alabama's graduation rates from 2002 to 2008 increased significantly, tripling the national average increase and…

Providing high school students access to advanced coursework has long been considered an important means of preparing students for success after high school. This study merges data from College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) program for the 2003-2004 school year with data from the U.S. Department of Education for all U.S. public high schools to…

The International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is a rigorous preuniversity course of study leading to examinations for highly motivated secondary school students between the ages of 16 and 19. The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) offers the diploma program for students throughout the world. Recognition of the diploma is slowly…

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)

Advanced Placement (AP), launched in 1955 by the College Board as a program to offer gifted high school students the opportunity to complete entry-level college coursework, has since expanded to encourage a broader array of students to tackle challenging content. At the end of the year-long course, students may opt to sit for the course-related…

Encourages music teachers to work with students interested in advanced placement (AP) music courses. Discusses the logistics and advantages of placing students in these courses. Describes the Advanced Placement Listening and Literature and the Advanced Placement Theory courses and examinations. Outlines the examination scoring method and looks at…

Reports on the 1994 English Advanced Placement Reading, an event which brought together 750 readers to provide accurate, efficient, and comfortable scoring of over 173,000 exams. (SR)

This paper focuses on the attempt by the Singapore government to introduce a new education paradigm to prepare students for success in a knowledge economy. The paper highlights the policy statements and changes for a new paradigm known as an Ability Driven Education (ADE) in Singapore. The ADE, launched as part of the Thinking Schools, Learning…

The Key State Education Policies on PK-12 Education is intended to inform policymakers and educators about the current status of key education policies that define and shape elementary and secondary education in public schools across the 50 states. The report is part of a continuing series by the Council's State Education Indicators program.…

"Alabama Education News" is published monthly except for June, July, and December by the Alabama Department of Education. This publication, authorized by Section 16-2-4 of the "Code of Alabama", as recompiled in 1975, is a public service of the Alabama Department of Education designed to inform citizens and educators about…

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)

Project Advance is a high school chemistry program equivalent to chemistry taught on the Syracuse University campus. A survey reveals that teachers in general have positive attitudes and good impressions of the course. Positive attitudes and high regard for the experience were also noted by students completing the course. (JN)

This issue of Northwest Education explores some of the ways that the region is changing territory: radically reengineering large comprehensive high schools into smaller, more personalized academies and learning communities; encouraging all students--not just an elite few--to take advanced placement and international baccalaureate courses; tying…