Raising the Graduation Bar for the Schools: Expectations vs Outcomes

Abstract

Educational reform is an ongoing concern of parents, educators, policy makers, and the public at large. The past 50 years have ushered in a new era of reform, whose major objective was to improve students' performance based on the use of statewide standardized testing and changes in graduation requirements. This study examined one such reform movement, initially developed during the late 1970s, which developed minimum competency testing standards as well as increased course demands to specify graduation requirements for public high school students. The outcomes for this reform model, both in terms of students' achievement and failure, did not meet expectations.