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WHY DON'T AMERICAN HIGHSCHOOL students perform as well as their peers in other industrialized nations? One reason is that they devote less time and intellectual energy to their schooling. Learning [...]

By a 2-to-1 margin (60% to 28%), American parents say 'if forced to choose, they would prefer their sons or daughters to make C grades and be active in extracurricular [...]

Students learn more and their high-school diplomas become more valuable when they must pass a curriculum-based exit exam like France's Baccalaureate in order to graduate. So why isn't the United [...]

Requiring students to pass competency exams to graduate or move up to the next level motivates both students and teachers. In states that required students to meet both minimum standards in course work and pass end-of-term tests, achievement levels rose significantly.

Curriculum-based external exit examinations (CBEEE), which are based on internationally recognized content standards, may indeed enhance the teaching and learning of core curricula. Countries and Canadian provinces that conduct CBEEE have better performance than other countries or provinces at the same state of development. However, CBEEE's are not the principal indicators of achievement levels. Developing countries, where CBEEEs are widespread, frequently have low achievement levels whereas Belgium, which has no CBEEE, has an excellent education system.

High school students' lack of motivation to study is resulting in their difficulty in finding jobs. Their lack of interest in academic achievement may be justified, because studying difficult subjects such as chemistry or physics does not assure students of high-paying occupations. Students should be given guidance on what their talents are and in what occupations they will likely succeed. Students should be subjected to external assessments, in which those giving guidance will be different from those making evaluations.