States Make Progress Closing High School “Expectations Gap” But More Needs To Be Done, Report Finds
WASHINGTON
Just one year after 45 of the nation’s governors joined leaders from education and business to make high school reform a national priority, many states are making progress closing the “expectations gap,” says a report from the Washington, D.C.-based Achieve Inc.
One year ago, only two states — Arkansas and Texas — required students to take the courses considered to represent a rigorous college- and work-ready curriculum in order to graduate. According to Achieve’s report, “Closing the Expectations Gap 2006,” six more states raised requirements to that level over the past year including Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma and South Dakota. Twelve more states reportedly plan to do so in the next few years. Seven additional states raised requirements within the last year, though not to the college- and work-ready level.
“I have not seen such a widespread response to concerns about America’s educational competitiveness since the release of “A Nation At Risk” in 1983,” says Michael Cohen, president of Achieve. “It is encouraging that so many states have acted with a sense of urgency, but every state must close the gap between the requirements for earning a high school diploma and the real world demands of college and the work place. The stakes for students and our country are higher than ever.”
At last year’s National Education Summit on High Schools, co-sponsored by Achieve, participants were confronted with some sobering statistics — one-third of students drop out of high school; of those that graduate and go to college, one-third need remedial courses; and nearly half of high school graduates entering the work force find they are not prepared.
But that is rapidly changing, according to Achieve’s report, the first in a series of annual reports tracking reform efforts in all 50 states. Achieve finds that 35 states are taking steps to align high school standards with college and workplace expectations. Five
