This article reports that in 1996, Alabama officials approved the "4 x 4" plan, which made their state the first in the country to require students to complete four years, or four credits each, of math and science for high school graduation. Other states have since followed suit, with policymakers arguing that higher standards are…

State and local officials are slowly untangling complicated webs of accountability, testing, and graduation policies, hoping to give thousands of students displaced by Hurricane Katrina a better handle on their academic standing. While officials in Texas, Tennessee, and Alabama offered some guidance to such students, school leaders in…