Preparing Students for
Success in College
As President Bush, the nation's governors, and
other stakeholders turn their attention to improving
our nation's high schools, higher education leaders
need to be at the table.
Context
Over the past two decades, policymakers have struggled
with the realization that far too few of our high
school graduates are adequately prepared for college
and the workplace. Many graduates leave the postsecondary
pipeline before their goals are met, reducing their
chances for earning a decent living and compromising
our nation's position in the competitive global
marketplace. The problems are particularly acute
for low-income students and underrepresented racial/ethnic
groups. While past K-12 reform efforts focused heavily
on earlier grades, current attention is turning
to the high school years, with a particular focus
on the senior year and the transition to college.
Armed with knowledge from many recent studies, policymakers
at all levels are responding and high school has
become the front burner issue in education policy
today.
Observations
Research has documented that rigorous coursework
in high school is essential for success in college.
At the same time, we know that far too few students
are taking the challenging courses they need to
be prepared for college-level work. The
U.S. Department of Education’s Answers in the Toolbox
provides convincing evidence that the rigor of high
school coursework, particularly in mathematics,
is the best predictor of college completion. Significantly,
this research also shows that the impact of challenging
coursework is far more pronounced for African-American
and Latino students than for white students.
For two decades, ACT research has documented the
benefits of taking a core college-preparatory curriculum
for college readiness and success—four years of
English and three years each of math, science, and
social science. Yet only 56 percent of ACT-tested
students have taken this curriculum, and the number
has increased only two percentage points over the
past decade.
Recent studies have documented the gap between
high school and college academics. Despite good
efforts and progress over the past 20 years, there
is still a significant disconnect between the K-12
and postsecondary sectors, making the transition
between high school and college anything but seamless.
The past 20 years have witnessed tremendous state-level
educational reform at the K-12 level, with development
of educational standards and assessments. Forty-two
states now have statewide coursework requirements
for graduation. Twenty states have implemented “exit
exams” as a requirement for high school graduation,
and another five will do so in the next five years.
Examining 10-year trend data on high school preparation
for college, the National Center for Public Policy
and Higher Education noted that 44 states had improved
on at least half of the indicators (such as percent
of students taking at least one upper-level math
course) and the remaining states experienced at
least some improvement. So are we there yet?
Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding "no" as
illustrated by the fact that about half of all college
freshmen take at least one remedial course. There
is still a great deal of variation across states
in what is required for high school graduation and
there is very little consensus between secondary
and postsecondary education on the courses students
should take in high school.
Further, across secondary schools, course content
can vary widely for courses with the same title.
Finally, exit exams have set a floor for high school
achievement, but they do not go far enough. These
tests typically reflect material studied early in
the high school career and have cutoff scores that
are too low to assure college readiness. Given that
K-12 reforms were most often driven by state legislatures
without involvement by higher education, the disconnect
is not surprising. For the most part, the sectors
have operated without shared curriculum standards,
governance, or accountability systems.
On the positive side, many efforts are underway
to increase the rigor of high school coursework,
to develop common standards, and to bring about
greater alignment of high school and college assessments.
National and state initiatives are leading states,
colleges and universities, and local school districts
to work together to bring about change.
A few states (Arkansas, Indiana, and Texas) are
making strides in promoting the college-preparatory
curriculum as the default curriculum for all students.
Eighteen states are developing tiered diploma systems
to promote more rigorous coursework and advanced
diplomas for college-bound students. Projects attempting
to bridge the secondary/postsecondary gap through
common standards include the Standards for Success
project, Achieve's American Diploma Project, the
College Board's Standards for College Success, and
ACT's Standards for Transition. States with efforts
to align high school assessments with college admissions
and placement tests include California (California
State University), Georgia, Kentucky, New York,
Oregon, Texas, and Washington.
Opportunities for high school students to
earn college credits have grown dramatically over
the last decade. Increasingly, state policies are
helping middle- and low-achieving students take
advantage of these options, thereby encouraging
college attendance, helping ease the transition
to college, and giving them a jump start on earning
college credits. Advanced Placement (AP),
International Baccalaureate (IB), and dual enrollment
options have been available to high-achieving students
for many years. What is relatively new are policies
that provide to middle- and low-achieving students
these and other options—including distance learning,
Tech Prep, and early and middle college high schools
(located on college campuses and offering at-risk
students high school and college courses and support
services).
Currently, 38 states have policies on dual enrollment,
including 18 states that mandate that dual enrollment
opportunities be provided to students. The National
Governors Association (NGA) is among the groups
supporting state policy development on postsecondary
options. As part of its "Redesigning the American
High School" initiative, NGA is recommending that
governors work to create statewide common course
agreements for accepting college-level work taken
in high school and that states provide financial
incentives for disadvantaged students to take AP
exams.
Curriculum improvements are just one component
of a growing number of statewide K-16 systems designed
to bring about seamless education. Statewide
K-16 systems, currently found in at least 22 states,
bring together representatives from K-12 departments
of education and schools districts, higher education
coordinating boards and institutions, the business
community, the governor's office, the state legislature,
and others. These initiatives strive to bring about
a more coordinated education system through attention
to curriculum and assessment, early outreach, teacher
preparation, student financial aid systems, data
and accountability systems, and joint governance
structures.
Conclusion
Whether working through
local partnerships, statewide K-16 structures, or
national coalitions, colleges and universities must
do more to ensure that our high school students
develop the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed
in college and in life. At this critical time, higher
education needs to be at the table to help create
a more seamless educational system that works for
all.
RESOURCES
Achieve, Inc. and the American Diploma Project
Launched by Achieve, Inc., in partnership with the
Education Trust and the Thomas F. Fordham Foundation,
the American Diploma Project was designed to restore
value to the high school diploma. Reports include
Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma
That Counts (2004), Do Graduation Tests
Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School Exit
Exams (2004), and The Expectations Gap:
A 50-State Review of High School Graduation Requirements
(2004). Achieve's latest report is Rising to
the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared
for College and Work? A Study of Recent High School
Graduates, College Instructors, and Employers
(2005).
achieve.org
American Council on Education, The School-to-College
Transition: Challenges and Prospects, December 2004.
This PDF report summarizes research on the school-to-college
transition, focusing on how campus leaders can help
reduce the college access gap.
PDF
document (479 k)
The Bridge Project
Housed at Stanford University (Calif.), this six-year
national study explored the policies, perceptions,
and practices related to the transition from secondary
to postsecondary education. The final report, Betraying
the College Dream: How Disconnected K-12 and Postsecondary
Education Systems Undermine Student Aspirations
(2003), outlines the disconnects between high school
exit-level policies and college entrance policies.
Bridge
Project
Center on Education Policy (CEP)
State High School Exit Exams: A Maturing
Reform, August 2004. CEP’s third
annual PDF report on state high school exit exams
reviews the status, characteristics, and effects
of exit exams.
Exit
Exam 2004 (PDF 2.3 m)
National Association of System Heads (NASH),
Aligning K-12 and Postsecondary Expectations:
State Policy in Transition (2002)
NASH and the Education Trust support a network of
public higher education, K-12, and civic leaders
who are implementing statewide K-16 initiatives.
This PDF report compares state high school graduation
requirements with state postsecondary admissions
requirements.
ALIGN
Report ( PDF 1.1 m)
National Commission on the High School Senior
Year, Raising Our Sights: No High School Senior
Left Behind, October 2001
This final PDF report of the Commission recommends
the "Triple A Plan," calling for increased
alignment between all levels of education, higher
achievement through college-preparatory study, and
expanded and more rigorous alternatives to the traditional
senior year.
Final
Report (PDF 236 k)
Pathways to College Network, A Shared
Agenda: A Leadership Challenge to Improve College
Access and Success, 2004
The Pathways
Network, a national alliance of organizations, is
committed to using research-based knowledge to improve
college access and success for underserved students.
Based on review of over 650 research studies, this
report presents recommendations for policymakers,
education leaders, and others.
Pathwaystocollege.net
Standards for Success (S4S), Mixed Messages:
What State High School Tests Communicate about
Student Readiness for College, 2003
S4S, a consortium of 28 universities, developed
a comprehensive statement of what students must
know and be able to do to succeed in entry-level
university courses. This PDF report compares the
degree of alignment between these standards and
state high school exams.
Mixed
Messages ( PDF 1.1 m)
U.S. Department of Education, Office of
Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE), Accelerating
Student Success Through Credit-Based Transition
Systems
This initiative is designed to investigate the ways
in which credit-based transition programs may support
the transition of middle- to low-achieving students
from secondary to postsecondary education. Reports
include Promoting College Access and Success:
A Review of Credit-Based Transition Programs
(2003) and State Dual Enrollment Policies: Addressing
Access and Quality (2004).
ed.gov
##
