Influencing Achievement Through High School Graduation Requirements

1997 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradford Chaney ◽  
Kenneth Burgdorf ◽  
Nadir Atash
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Graduation ◽  
Graduation Requirements ◽  
Achievement Scores ◽  
Educational Progress ◽  
National Assessment ◽  
Course Sequences ◽  
High School Graduation Requirements ◽  
School Graduation ◽  
Using Data

Using data from the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the 1990 High School Transcript Study, we compare students’ course-taking patterns with their NAEP achievement scores and with schools’ graduation requirements. We find relatively few students were affected by the requirements, either because students took more than was required or they took courses that did not affect their achievement. Those course sequences that were correlated with increases in students’ achievement scores suggested that students who were marginal in their motivation and skills could benefit by taking courses that were more demanding.

High Bars or Behind Bars? The Effect of Graduation Requirements on Arrest Rates

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-49
Author(s):  
Matthew F. Larsen
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Graduation ◽  
Graduation Requirements ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Exit Exams ◽  
Market Outcomes ◽  
Arrest Rates ◽  
Beneficial Effects ◽  
High School Graduation Requirements ◽  
School Graduation

This paper investigates the effect of high school graduation requirements on arrest rates with a specific focus on the number of required courses and the use of exit exams. Identifying variation comes from state-by-cohort changes in the laws governing high school graduation requirements from 1980 to 2010. Combining these law changes with arrest rates of young adults from the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), I find that the use of exit exams can reduce arrest rates by approximately 7%. While it is difficult to parse out the exact mechanisms additional exploration into heterogeneity by age and offense as well as examination of labor market outcomes suggest that these policies may have increased learning. Given the current debate around the use of exit exams this paper provides evidence of beneficial effects on non-academic outcomes. This paper also provides further evidence of the influence of education policy on crime.

Raising the Bar and Equity? Effects of State High School Graduation Requirements and Accountability Policies on Students' Mathematics Course Taking

2003 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 299-318 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn S. Schiller ◽  
Chandra Muller
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Modeling ◽  
Test Performance ◽  
High School Graduation ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Graduation Requirements ◽  
Complex Nature ◽  
High School Graduation Requirements ◽  
School Graduation ◽  
Mathematics Course

In response to the national push to raise academic performance of all students, most states have adopted policies designed to raise academic standards, monitor progress toward those standards, and hold schools and students responsible for attaining them. Given the complex nature of the educational process, these policies are likely to have mixed effects on both general levels of attainment and stratification based on race or ethnicity and social class. Using nationally representative longitudinal data and hierarchical linear modeling, this article explored the association between students' mathematics course work and states' high school graduation requirements and assessment or accountability policies. We found that students in states with more graduation requirements tended to enroll in higher level mathematics courses as freshmen and persist to take more advanced level courses. Similar trends were also found for students in states that link test performance to consequences for schools. Extensive testing, however, had little effect on course taking except to increase differences based on socioeconomic status. In contrast, differences between racial or ethnic groups tended to be smaller in states where test performance was linked to consequences for students.

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