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Full-Text Articles in Education

Signaling The Competencies Of High School Students To Employers, John H. Bishop Oct 2009

Signaling The Competencies Of High School Students To Employers, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

[Excerpt] The fundamental cause of the low effort level of American students, parents, and voters in school elections is the absence of good signals of effort and accomplishment and the consequent lack of rewards for learning. In most other advanced countries mastery of the curriculum is assessed by examinations that are set and graded at the national or regional level. Grades on these exams signal the student's achievement to employers and colleges and influence the jobs that graduates get and the universities and programs to which they are admitted. Exam results also influence school reputations and in some countries the …


Are National Exit Examinations Important For Educational Efficiency?, John H. Bishop Oct 2009

Are National Exit Examinations Important For Educational Efficiency?, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

“This paper analyses effects of national or provincial exit examinations on education quality. On theoretical grounds, the paper argues that such examinations should increase high school achievement, particularly in examination subjects, and that teachers and students and parents and school administrators should focus more on academic achievement when making school-quality decisions. On the negative side, exit examinations may lead to a tendency to concentrate on learning facts, rather than understanding contexts.”


In Search Of A Niche, John H. Bishop Oct 2009

In Search Of A Niche, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

"As enrollment in secondary vocational education programs declines and employers re-evaluate the attributes needed for success in today’s job market, some observers of the U.S. education system have called for schools to limit – or even eliminate – the teaching of occupational skills. Does this mean employers don’t reward such training?"


Vocational And Academic Education In High School: Complements Or Substitutes, Suk Kang, John H. Bishop Oct 2009

Vocational And Academic Education In High School: Complements Or Substitutes, Suk Kang, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

[Excerpt] A number of blue ribbon-panels have called for increases in the number academic courses required for graduation from high school and for lengthening the school day and the school year. Most states have adopted the first of these recommendations but not the second. With the amount of time a student spends in school remaining constant, increases in the number of required academic courses force reductions elsewhere. Which activities should be reduced? Should the reduction be made in study halls, music and fine arts,physical education, and life skills courses or should it come in vocational education? The answer to this …


Making Vocational Education More Effective For At-Risk Youth, John H. Bishop Oct 2009

Making Vocational Education More Effective For At-Risk Youth, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

"Occupationally specific vocational training pays off for disadvantaged students, but only if graduates work in the jobs they were trained for. Implication: Vocational educators must help make sure that the skills they teach are used."


Vocational Education And At-Risk Youth In The United States, John H. Bishop Oct 2009

Vocational Education And At-Risk Youth In The United States, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

[Excerpt] Educationally disadvantaged youth in the United States have great difficulty finding steady jobs providing real training and advancement opportunities. In October 1994 only 43 percent of the young people who had dropped out of high school the previous year were employed. Of recent (previous spring) graduates who had not gone college, only 64 percent were employed (BLS 1995). Those who obtained employment accepted jobs paying 10 to 15 percent less than in 1980.