The early part of the 21st century sees the United States competing in an increasingly globalized, high-tech economy that highly prizes those individuals with quality mathematics and science educations, and bestows economic and other benefits on the nations and regions in which they live and work. Nations around the world--recognizing 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 all sectors of…

Students with high scores (top third) on the essay portion of an Advanced Placement Examination (AP) (College Board) and low scores (bottom third) on the multiple-choice portion of the same examination were compared with students whose performance showed the opposite pattern. Across examinations in different subject areas (history, English, and…

This guidebook is designed to assist high schools and 2-year postsecondary institutions in planning, implementing, and operating occupational program articulation efforts. Chapter 1 presents a retrospective of program articulation and a look at program articulation today, including time-shortened programs, advanced skills programs, and other forms…

Consisting of four papers, this study examines university entrance examinations in France, Great Britain, and West Germany and compares them to similar tests in the United States on the basis of three subjects: world history, language study, and biology. The first paper, "The Relationship of the Examinations to the Secondary School Age…

Arranged into 26 sections, this curriculum guide provides high school teachers with a competency based approach to teaching art education. Following a statement of appreciation, the philosophy and goals for art education in Maryland are presented. An excerpt from Edmund Feldman's "Varieties of Visual Experience" discusses aesthetic expression.…

The demographic pattern of college students is changing from the conventional mold of 18 to 24-year-old able-bodied persons. Although the enrollment of 18-year-olds is declining, enrollment increases are occurring among the following constituencies: (1) women students and single women with children, (2) diverse adult students, (3) older students,…

Some 200 journal articles and other writings, selected from foreign language materials and publications from the 1950's and 1960's, are presented in this anthology. It is suggested that two-thirds of the items are relevant to all language instruction and that the remainder are of specific interest to teachers of German. Five major sections…

A study examined rural, low-income students' experiences with online advanced placement (AP) courses. Interviews were conducted with 30 students, their mentors, and school administrators at four rural high schools in two Western states; 25 students were low-income. Positive comments about the online experience mentioned interaction with other…

What are the effects of block scheduling? Results of transitioning from traditional to block scheduling are mixed. Some studies indicate no change in achievement results, nor change in teachers' opinions about instructional strategies. Other studies show that block scheduling doesn't work well for Advanced Placement or Music courses, that "hard to…

Compares the performance on the economics Advanced Placement (AP) examination between college students who had completed an introductory course in economics and high school students taking the AP examination for the first time. Discusses possible reasons that the high school students did better than their college counterparts. (MJP)

Black and Hispanic high school students enroll in Advanced Placement (AP) courses at approximately half the rate of white students. This paper develops a microeconomic model of the AP participation decision and finds that low income is the single most important factor behind the minority AP participation gap. In addition, minority students enroll…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Year of Math and Science?: Flurry of Congressional Hearings on Economic Competitiveness Focus on High Schools and…

This paper describes an exploratory study in which three groups of Latina and Latino high school students, previously identified as "at risk," performed at a level of "giftedness" after an instructional intervention grounded on the theoretical orientations of cultural discontinuity and self-efficacy. A total of 29…

The dimensional structure of the 1987 Advanced Placement (AP) French language examination was tested in four populations using a series of confirmatory linear factor analysis models. To mitigate problems with the linear factor analysis of multiple choice items, the linear factor analysis of item parcel scores, made of small mutually exclusive…