This paper discusses the national movement toward increasing high school graduation requirements and the development of alternatives to the standard high school diploma for students with disabilities. Findings from a review of state policies indicate: (1) 38 states and territories apply some graduation requirements to students with disabilities;…

This address presents recent developments in the Florida movement toward entry and exit examinations in higher education. During the 1970s, parents, business leaders and state government leaders had expressed concern that students from Florida's schools, colleges, and universities were not demonstrating sufficient quality in job performance,…

No population exists where it is more important to produce information literate individuals than teacher candidates, yet few would suggest that practitioners newly entering the field are adequately prepared to model and teach information literacy to their students. Consequently, information literacy has recently been established as a key outcome…

This paper examines Florida's standards-driven performance assessment, emphasizing teacher preparation, and touching on K-12 accountability. Florida's educational reform and accountability efforts are driven by the Florida System of School Improvement and Accountability document. The system is derived from state goals similar to the national Goals…

A reaccreditation self-study project was conducted at St. Jerome Catholic School in Ft. Lauderdale (Florida). The school's 325 students come from a predominantly blue collar, ethnically and racially diverse community. The curriculum provides a solid academic background of core subjects, special subjects, and extracurricular activities. The project…

New minimum high school graduation standards were mandated for 1978-79 graduates, by Florida's Educational Accountability Act of 1976. Requirements included mastery of basic skills, completion of minimum course credits, and satisfactory performance on functional literacy tests. The literacy test was the primary criterion for graduation. On its…

The quest for excellence in American higher education has been accompanied by the implementation of basic skills requirements and the corresponding assessment programs. Assessment results could provide feedback for curricular improvement, although they are frequently used as indicators of institutional quality. A study is presented that compared…