The Minnesota Zoo's School of Environmental Studies is an optional, interdisciplinary program open to juniors and seniors from four comprehensive high schools. The problems posed, like those in the world, require students to think across disciplines. Students measure, analyze, map, photograph, display, and present findings to the local community…

A national commission formed to review the future of the 12th grade National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has recommended that the nation's primary barometer of student performance should expand dramatically to provide mandatory state results on the achievement of 12th graders and to measure their readiness for college, employment,…

During the year 2004, 20% of eighth-graders and 60.3% of twelfth-graders reported that they had gotten drunk at least once over the course of just one year, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA). Of the 10.7 million underage youth who drink, 7.2 million or 31% of all high school students binge drink with a frequency of at least…

This paper describes an English language listening test intended as computer-based testing material for secondary school students in Hong Kong, where considerable attention is being invested in online and computer-based testing. As well as providing a school-based testing facility, the study aims to contribute to the knowledge base regarding the…

One of the major concerns of educators today is the determination of the factors that play a role in the career choices of women. This document summarizes a Saskatchewan thesis study that explored female grade 12 high school students' perceptions of the factors that influenced their traditional or nontraditional science career aspirations. Of…

This report provides teachers, school administrators, students, and the general public with a summarized overview of results from the January 1997 administration of the Social Studies 33 Diploma Examination. The summary is divided into: (1) description of the examination; (2) achievement of standards; (3) provincial averages; (4) multiple-choice…

Describes the grades 11-12 joint vocational program at an Ohio vocational school to illustrate the components in an educational matrix designed to meet the needs of all students. Programs include career development, assessment/evaluation, basic skills lab, occupational work adjustment, occupational work experience, and placement and followup. (CT)

Discusses three of the authors' experiences as high school seniors serving as peer tutors and assessors for eighth graders' science portfolios in a science class that integrated a series of year-long writing activities using portfolios into an eighth-grade conceptual science class. (SR)

Discusses the Project 2061 benchmarks, statements of what all students should know or be able to do in science, mathematics, and technology by the end of grades 2, 5, 8, and 12. (MKR)

Discusses the challenges of teaching high school geography in a way that enables students to develop an informed, spatial view of the world. Discusses the High School Geography Project and its effect on geography instruction. Suggests a map drawing exercise for students to demonstrate the importance of mental maps. (DK)

This document describes the content and format of the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) measurements for reading comprehension of students in grades 4, 8, and 12. According to the framework, NAEP assesses three contexts for reading: reading for literary experience, reading for information, and reading to perform a task). In addition…

"Education Matters" is the monthly newsletter of the Association of American Educators (AAE), an organization dedicated to advancing the American teaching profession through personal growth, professional development, teacher advocacy and protection. This issue of the newsletter includes: (1) Are They Ready? National Study Reveals Civics…

This brochure describes the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a program that aims to improve the effectiveness of the nation's schools by making objective information about student performance in selected learning areas available to policymakers at the national, regional, state, and local levels. Commonly known as the…

Procedures used to map the achievement levels, expressed as total expected scores on the full set of items presented to a grade, onto the Mathematics Composite of the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are described. The Composite, defined as a weighted average of subdomain scores, provides a global measure of mathematics…

A career counseling project was undertaken to address the career decision-making needs of 12th-grade students identified as being non-goal oriented. A major part of the project was the establishment of a career resource center. Project activities consisted of planning, orientation, implementation, and evaluation. Planning activities included goal…