Accelerating Advancement in School and Work

Abstract

Current efforts to reform the American high school face a number of complex realities. Among the most significant are the far-reaching economic and demographic changes in the United States over the past several decades. The restructuring of the economy has made some education beyond high school the new prerequisite for middle-class jobs, raising the bar for what levels of skill all students must acquire. At the same time, demographic changes mean that the most rapidly growing segments of the student population—now and into the future—are those whom the education system serves least well. High schools today must meet the dual challenge of preparing all students to function at higher levels and performing better for those least well served. Their task is not simply to help most students graduate with a minimal level of competence, but also to ensure that all students leave high school college-ready (that is, able to enter college without needing remediation). This is true both for students who will enter college immediately after high school and for those who will enter the work force but need ongoing education over time to advance economically. The standards-based reform movement provides a strong foundation for meeting these challenges, especially because of its emphasis on setting higher and clearer expectations for what students need to know and be able to do. Although standards-based reforms have steadily raised achievement at the elementary and middle school levels, they have not yet succeeded in significantly improving outcomes for the increasingly heterogeneous students who stay in high school, let alone for the many who drop out before earning a diploma. The problem is not just a failing of high schools but also of the secondary