Education, High School | featured news

More students than ever are taking Advanced Placement courses in high school – about one in five now earns at least three out of five possible points on an AP test before graduating. In 2002, 471,404 students took an AP exam of any sort. By last year, it was 954,070.

The percentage of students at public high schools who graduate on time has reached its highest level in nearly 40 years, according to the most recent federal government estimates released Tuesday. Based on data collected from the states for the Class of 2010, the National Center for Education Statistics estimated that 78 percent of students across the country earned a diploma within four years of starting high school. The graduation rate was last at that level in 1974, officials said.

A New York City teenage pregnancy-prevention program that began in January 2011 has gotten more attention of late, with most of it about it making the Plan B pill available to girls without their parent's direct consent.

Average scores on the ACT exam held steady for the high school class of 2012 but the results show modest progress in the number of students who appear ready for college-level work in math and science.

A former Texas high school English teacher and mother of three is on trial, accused of having sex with five male students. The evidence against Brittni Colleps, 28, includes cell phone video that allegedly shows group sex between her and four students at her home. Prosecutors say it happened while her children and husband, who is an Army specialist stationed out-of-state, were away. The graphic video was shown to the jury this week.

Editors at Newsweek & The Daily Beast agree, naming The Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science as the best public high school in America. The annual rankings by Newsweek & The Daily Beast highlight the 1,000 public high schools nationwide that have proven to be the most effective in turning out college-ready graduates.

A principal’s school encounter with his secretary, secretly recorded by a student, has cost the pair their jobs at a small Arizona charter high school, according to local media reports.

Critics blast New York school's new policies to raise failing exam and class grades to passing scores.

A college student from New York was paid between $1,500 and $2,500 to stand in for at least a half dozen students attending a prestigious Long Island high school and take the SAT exam for them, a prosecutor said Tuesday in announcing criminal charges in the case.

Last week, the College Board dealt parents, teachers and the education world a serious blow. According to its latest test results, "SAT reading scores for the high school class of 2011 were the lowest on record, and combined reading and math scores fell to their lowest point since 1995."