The need for schools to produce graduates ready to meet increasing workforce demands and postsecondary admission requirements has called for more individualized career and academic planning with high school students. School counselors have a unique yet complex role in providing college and career guidance, monitoring, and opportunities. This study…

The declining U.S. student interest in science and U.S. students' poorer performance on standardized tests as compared to their counterparts in other developed nations raise serious concerns over the future of the sciences in the United States. After reviewing the available data, the staff and board of Research Corporation set as one of its major…

Increasing competitiveness in today's globalized and knowledge-based economy demands college-educated professionals. Creating an adequate number of college-educated professionals requires an investment in human capital, particularly in postsecondary education. In fact, six out of every 10 jobs in the United States involve advanced skills that can…

The focus of this study was to understand and describe the nature of a professional community of interdisciplinary science teachers linked together through a telecommunications network. Thirty two high school science teachers participated in a 2 week summer institute. Patterns of teacher participation and changes within this community were…

This paper reports on a research study which attempted to determine whether competition could generate the same enthusiasm in the classroom (for learning) as it does on the playing field (in sports). Ninth grade world cultures students at Concord-Carlisle High School, Concord, Massachusetts were led to believe that they were competing in an…

The Urban Mathematics Collaborative (UMC) Project was a 5-year effort to reform mathematics instruction in urban schools by empowering mathematics teachers. Targeting over 3,000 high school mathematics teachers in collaboratives in 11 urban areas, including San Francisco (California), Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), and New Orleans (Louisiana), the…

Since 1980, efforts to strengthen the academic preparation of students for college have been made on national, regional, state, and local levels. Cited as evidence of a problem in academic preparation have been: (1) the decline in students' college admission test scores in language, study, and computing skills over the past 17 years; (2) low…

In community college/high school 2 + 2 programs, a four-year program of technical training is begun in the last two years of high school and continued through two years of community college. In spite of a growing interest in such programs, current efforts have been limited to course articulation in which prerequisites for two-year college courses…

The reward structure of a classroom refers to the means by which a teacher motivates students to perform school tasks. This document reports on a study in which academic achievement in competitive and reward-structured environments was examined in two high school sophomore level biology classes of equal academic ability. Each class was pretested…

This paper examines the grading policies and practices of about 300 teachers from seven high schools in the San Francisco Bay area. Three questions are addressed: (1) Who or what determines grading policies? (2) How do teachers actually calculate grades, that is, what kinds of performances factors are taken into account by teachers? (3) How do…

A project provided 2,307 high school juniors in 44 schools in Kansas with a career planning experience through use of the Career Planning Program (CPP), a career guidance instrument. Twelve area vocational-technical school counselors functioned as technical skills trainers to high school counselors and as test materials liaison persons. Data were…

The five chapters of this monograph review the literature and propose best practices for the successful transition of youth with disabilities from school to adult life in the community. The opening chapter, "Transition from School to Integrated Communities" (Janis Chadsey-Rusch and others), offers a review of the research on outcomes attained by…

Community-based early intervention strategies can provide students with skills and attitudes that make dropping out of high school an unnecessary choice. This report analyzes the high school dropout phenomenon in terms of its magnitude, influence on minority populations, and need for local outreach programs. In California, the dropout rate has…

Beginning in 1983, three educational reforms were undertaken in Pennsylvania to revise high school graduation requirements, test for remedial needs, and set higher standards for teachers and administrators. Revision of graduation requirements involved state and local education officials, professional organizations, and the state legislature. New…

Information was collected at six urban high schools in the Northwest during 1984 and 1985 to describe the procedures used to manage student absenteeism and to compare the schools on staff implementation of and satisfaction with the absentee procedures used. An additional purpose was to investigate the influence of school procedures on student…