The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) creates a unique opportunity for states, districts, and high schools to work in concert on behalf of high school students. Generally, American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are not intended to create new programs; rather, the majority of the funds are intended to fill gaps in existing…

Relatively little policy activity has focused on the key role of counselors in providing the guidance students need to make informed decisions about their post-high school options. This issue of "Progress of Education Reform" takes a closer look at research related to: (1) The variation in access of college counseling across schools and the impact…

This article explores the question of opening educational resources in the context of an educational technology unit, the Centre for Educational Technology at the University of Cape Town, in South Africa. It describes the impact of a high level of policy intervention for the transformation of higher education and of a diverse, multilingual student…

Rarely do stakeholders ask about the effectiveness of outreach programs or whether they are an efficient use of tax dollars and philanthropic funds. As government budgets continue to be constrained and philanthropic investment gets more competitive, there is a growing acknowledgment of the need to look at the cost/benefit of these programs and…

Qatar is experiencing previously unprecedented social and economic development, linked to increased participation in the global market. Growing employment opportunities for Qatari nationals require greater attention to post-secondary education and the development of specific high-demand skills. Since the 1970s, Qatar has complemented its…

Qatar is experiencing previously unprecedented social and economic development, linked to increased participation in the global market. Growing employment opportunities for Qatari nationals require greater attention to post-secondary education and the development of specific high-demand skills. Since the 1970s, Qatar has complemented its…

In December 2004, the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) examined the issue of high school reform in its Education Policy Brief, "Redesigning High Schools to Prepare Students for the Future" (ED488911). Since the publication of that report, many new policies and programs have been established across the country at the…

This report provides an introduction to the system and culture of the college entrance examination (CEE) of China. College entrance examinations in China (and in several other Asian countries such as Korea and Japan) are so important that they are commonly dubbed "once in a lifetime" or a "one-test-to-determine-a-life" for most…

"Talent Development High Schools" is a school reform model for restructuring large high schools with persistent attendance and discipline problems, poor student achievement, and high dropout rates. The model includes both structural and curriculum reforms. It calls for schools to reorganize into small "learning…

In this article, the author argues that traditional college entrance requirements exercise a detrimental effect on other elements of the educational system. She begins by looking at the way that the entire K-12 system is skewed toward meeting the needs of those students headed for selective colleges and universities and the way less successful…

America's economic and social well-being is increasingly dependent upon the capacity of public education system to prepare all students for college and high-performance careers. With almost 80 percent of today's fastest-growing jobs requiring some postsecondary education, all students--regardless of their race/ethnicity, gender, socio-economic or…

This report identifies the essential aims, learning outcomes, and guiding principles for a 21st century college education. It is based on extensive input both from educators and employers and responds to the new global challenges today's students face. It describes the learning contemporary students need from college, and what it will take to help…

Describes Progressive Education Association's Eight-Year Study conceived in 1930 and published in 1942. Attempts to correct subsequent misconceptions and misinterpretations of the study's findings. (Contains 43 references.) (PKP)

Even before the nation's governors convened in Washington in March 2005 for a national summit on high schools, many already had proposed plans to make secondary education more rigorous. In this article, the author discusses how governors and legislators in 12 states take steps to put more rigor into high schools. Noting that current state…

The authors advocate harnessing the applied teaching strategies of career/technical education (CTE) and infusing them into college-preparatory academics to transform secondary schools into high-performing centers of learning where students are both challenged and engaged. By pursuing this strategy, say the authors, states can help many more…