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Full-Text Articles in Education
Which Secondary Education Systems Work Best? The United States Or Northern Europe, John H. Bishop
Which Secondary Education Systems Work Best? The United States Or Northern Europe, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
Northern European teenagers are 10+ percent more likely to graduate from secondary school than their American counterparts and learn considerably more as well. This paper explains why Northern Europe’s upper-secondary schools have achieved school cultures that accomplish so much more than typical American secondary schools. The keys to N. Europe's success are: 1. Parents/students decide which program of study to enter. 2. Programs have well signaled reputations that influence access to occupations/professions and higher education programs. 3. Undertaking a challenging program confers prestige. 4. If the program turns out to be too difficult or poorly taught, transfers to a more …
Signaling The Competencies Of High School Students To Employers, John H. Bishop
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
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.”
Student, Staff, And Employer Incentives For Improved Student Achievement And Work Readiness, John H. Bishop
Student, Staff, And Employer Incentives For Improved Student Achievement And Work Readiness, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
“This article proposes a strategy for banishing mediocrity and building in its place an excellent American system of secondary education. Before a cure can be prescribed, however, a diagnosis must be made.”
High School Exit Examinations: When Do Learning Effects Generalize?, John H. Bishop
High School Exit Examinations: When Do Learning Effects Generalize?, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
This paper reviews international and domestic evidence on the effects of three types of high school exit exam systems: voluntary curriculum-based external exit exams, universal curriculum-based external exit exam systems and minimum competency tests that must be passed to receive a regular high school diploma. The nations and provinces that use Universal CBEEES (and typically teacher grades as well) to signal student achievement have significantly higher achievement levels and smaller differentials by family background than otherwise comparable jurisdictions that base high stakes decisions on voluntary college admissions tests and/or teacher grades. The introduction of Universal CBEEES in New York and …
The Effect Of National Standard And Curriculum-Based Exams On Achievement, John H. Bishop
The Effect Of National Standard And Curriculum-Based Exams On Achievement, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
[Excerpt] Two presidents, the National Governors Association and numerous blue ribbon panels have called for the development of state or national content standards for core subjects and examinations that assess the achievement of these standards. The Competitiveness Policy Council, for example, advocates that "external assessments be given to individual students at the secondary level and that the results should be a major but not exclusive factor qualifying for college and better jobs at better wages (1993, p. 30)." It is claimed that curriculum-based external exit exam systems (CBEEEs) based on world class content standards will improve teaching and learning of …
In Search Of A Niche, John H. Bishop
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?"
The Role Of End-Of-Course Exams And Minimum Competency Exams In Standards-Based Reforms, John H. Bishop, Ferran Mane, Michael Bishop, Joan Moriarty
The Role Of End-Of-Course Exams And Minimum Competency Exams In Standards-Based Reforms, John H. Bishop, Ferran Mane, Michael Bishop, Joan Moriarty
John H Bishop
[Excerpt] Educational reformers and most of the American public believe that most teachers ask too little of their pupils. These low expectations, they believe, result in watered down curricula and a tolerance of mediocre teaching and inappropriate student behavior. The result is that the prophecy of low achievement becomes self-fulfilling. Although research has shown that learning gains are substantially larger when students take more demanding courses2, only a minority of students enroll in these courses. There are several reasons for this. Guidance counselors in many schools allow only a select few into the most challenging courses. While most schools give …
Vocational And Academic Education In High School: Complements Or Substitutes, Suk Kang, John H. Bishop
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
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."
Do Curriculum-Based External Exit Exam Systems Enhance Student Achievement?, John H. Bishop
Do Curriculum-Based External Exit Exam Systems Enhance Student Achievement?, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
[Excerpt] It is claimed that 'curriculum-based external exit exam systems', CBEEES, based on world class content standards will improve teaching and learning of core subjects. What evidence is there for this claim? New York's Regents Exams are an example of such a system. Do New York students outperform students with similar socio-economic backgrounds from other states? Outside the United States such systems are the rule, not the exception. What impacts have such systems had on school policies, teaching and student learning?
The Impact Of Curriculum-Based External Examinations On School Priorities And Student Learning, John H. Bishop
The Impact Of Curriculum-Based External Examinations On School Priorities And Student Learning, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
[Excerpt] The first major prediction of the theory is that an increase in the extrinsic rewards for learning will cause student effort and achievement to increase. The primary extrinsic reward for achievement in high school is a higher probability of completing college. Thus the extrinsic rewards for learning in high school depend on the size of the payoff to college and on how contingent college admissions decisions are on achievement in high school. Time series data suggests that changes in college selectivity and payoff may have contributed to the ups and downs of student achievement during the postwar period. The …
The Effect Of Curriculum-Based Exit Exam Systems On Student Achievement, John H. Bishop
The Effect Of Curriculum-Based Exit Exam Systems On Student Achievement, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
[Excerpt] Two presidents, the National Governors Association and numerous blue ribbon panels have called for the development of state or national content standards for core subjects and examinations that assess the achievement of these standards. The Competitiveness Policy Council, for example, advocates that "external assessments be given to individual students at the secondary level and that the results should be a major but not exclusive factor qualifying for college and better jobs at better wages (1993, p. 30)." It is claimed that 'curriculum-based external exit exam systems', CBEEES, based on world class content standards will improve teaching and learning of …
Drinking From The Fountain Of Knowledge: Student Incentive To Study And Learn-Externalities, Information Problems And Peer Pressure, John H. Bishop
Drinking From The Fountain Of Knowledge: Student Incentive To Study And Learn-Externalities, Information Problems And Peer Pressure, John H. Bishop
John H Bishop
Students face four decision margins: (a) How many years to spend in school, (b) What to study. (c) How much effort to devote to learning per year and (d) Whether to disrupt or assist the learning of classmates. This paper reviews an emerging economic literature on the effects of and determinants of student effort and cooperativeness (c and d above) and how putting student motivation and behavior at center of one’s theoretical framework changes one’s view of how schools operate and how they might be made more effective. In this new framework students have a dual role. They are both …
La Educación Secundaria En Los Estados Unidos. ¿Qué Pueden Aprender Otros De Nuestros Errores?, John H. Bishop, Ferran Mane, Michael Bishop
La Educación Secundaria En Los Estados Unidos. ¿Qué Pueden Aprender Otros De Nuestros Errores?, John H. Bishop, Ferran Mane, Michael Bishop
John H Bishop
[Excerpt] El ritmo de los estudiantes estadounidenses para adquirir nuevas habilidades se desacelera durante la educación secundaria.