The majority of American college students pursue a degree outside one of the STEM fields (US News & World Report, 2015), yet these same students must still complete a minimum level of coursework in mathematics for graduation. The intent of liberal arts math courses is to help students who are majoring in one of the liberal arts successfully…

Nearly all states require students to complete a certain number of units per course to earn a standard diploma in the state; but courses, units and assessments outside of exit exams and diploma options vary. This interactive resource provides an overview of state high school graduation requirements. To see how all states approach specific…

Civic knowledge and public engagement is at an all-time low. While the 2016 election brought a renewed interest in engagement among youth, only 23 percent of eighth-graders performed at or above the proficient level on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) civics exam, and achievement levels have virtually stagnated since 1998. In…

The growing popularity of Master of Accounting programs can be attributed to multiple factors, but the states' adoption of the 150-credit hour educational prerequisite for Certified Public Accountant licensure was clearly influential in stimulating enrollment growth. Despite the growth and importance of Master of Accounting programs, comparative…

We use data from the 2020 PACE/USC Rossier annual voter poll to report on California voters' attitudes towards educational equity policy initiatives, specifically: (a) increasing the number of public school teachers of color in California and (b) requiring all high school students in California to complete an ethnic studies course. A majority of…

With today's greater focus on preparing students for college and careers, the Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) recently conducted a review of the coursework that states are requiring students to complete in order to receive a high school diploma, and of what diploma options are available for students in each state. This…

The purpose of this study was to continue the trend of identifying the course offerings of National Communication Association (NCA) department members started by Wardrope (1999). A curricular profile of U.S. communication departments. "Communication Education," "48"(3), 256-258. https://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2102/10.1080/03634529909379173 and…

The Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast and Islands (REL-NEI) partnered with the New York State Education Department (NYSED) to examine the pathways used by students to attain a Regents diploma at the outset of a new policy expanding those pathways in June 2015. Under the new 4+1 pathways policy, students could replace one of the two…

High school graduation rates have increased dramatically in the past two decades. Some skepticism has arisen, however, because of the confluence of the graduation rise and the starts of high-stakes accountability for graduation rates with "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB). In this study we provide some of the first evidence about the role of…

In the past year, a number of states have eliminated the requirements for high school exit or graduation examinations and retroactively issued diplomas to students who had completed all other graduation requirements but had not passed the required examinations. On the other hand, some states have begun to require students to pass a civics test as…

The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children in Texas and across the United States. The theme of this issue is "College Preparation." Contents include: (1) Texas Public School…

Across the country, states are considering policies that support civic learning among youth. Recent initiatives at the state level have changed graduation requirements and state assessments around high school civics. These initiatives can be grouped into three types: coursework, assessments, and accountability. The first type, coursework, refers…

Education reform in recent decades has focused on raising standards, pushing more students to reach them, and measuring the performance of all students. While test-score growth has lagged recently, upward progress on graduation rates has not, and record graduation rates have been offered as proof of progress. However, the fact that rising…

In Canada, several universities have recently implemented course requirements in Indigenous studies as a condition of graduation, while others are considering following suit. Policies making Indigenous course requirements (hereafter ICRs) compulsory have caused considerable controversy. According to proponents, a main purpose of ICRs is to address…

Since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 began holding schools accountable for high school graduation rates, multiple strategies have emerged to help more students receive their diplomas. Among the most popular and widely deployed are credit recovery programs, which allow students to "recover credits" from one or more courses that they…