Access to Rigor and Aligning Standards to College and Work Readiness
CHSE held a Congressional briefing offering recommendations to close the chasm between what students learn in public high schools and what they need to know after they graduate. Panelists provided a range of solutions for improving student performance, from instituting a high-rigor curriculum that can help to close the achievement gap to an early college high school model to aligning high school standards, assessments, curriculum, and instruction with college and work readiness.
Coalition Calls On Congress To Align High School Curriculum And Assessments With College- And Work-Readiness Standards
This is the sixth in a series of CHSE-sponsored briefings, "A Stronger NCLB in 2008: Critical for High Schools and Students of Color."
Speakers:
- Michael Wotorson, executive director, CHSE
- Russlynn Ali, executive director, Education Trust-West
- Sandy Boyd, vice president advocacy and outreach, Achieve
- Delia Pompa, vice president of education, National Council of La Raza
- Joel Vargas, program director, Jobs for the Future
Every year, more than $2 billion is spent on remediation courses to teach incoming college freshmen the content and skills necessary to succeed in college and in work - skills they should learn in high school. The Campaign for High School Equity (CHSE), a coalition of high-profile civil rights organizations focused on high school education reform, today held a Congressional briefing offering recommendations to close the chasm between what students learn in public high schools and what they need to know after they graduate.
Similar to trends in enrollment at drop-out factories, schools where no more than 60 percent of the entering freshman make it to their senior year three years later, trends in academic performance indicate that low-income and minority youth are most at risk. Evidence of the disparities in educational preparedness are reported by the National Assessment of Educational Progress: African-American and Hispanic twelfth graders read at approximately the same level as white eighth graders, while nearly three quarters of Native American and Alaska Native high school seniors read below grade level.
"When 35 to 45 percent of Hispanic, African American, American Indian, and Asian American freshmen aren't ready for even basic college courses and employers can't find qualified workers, it is clear that our high schools have failed to adequately prepare students," said Delia Pompa, vice president of education for the National Council of La Raza, a CHSE member organization. "It's time to consider real-world criteria and to ensure that all students have access to coursework that prepares them for college and work."
At the briefing, Russlyn Ali, executive director of Education Trust-West ; Sandy Boyd, vice president advocacy and outreach of Achieve; and Joel Vargas, program director of Jobs for the Future, joined Pompa in offering a range of solutions for improving student performance, from instituting a high-rigor curriculum that can help to close the achievement gap; to an early college high school model; to aligning high school standards, assessments, curriculum, and instruction with college- and work-readiness.
CHSE executive director Michael Wotorson said "What is a high school diploma worth when it signifies the completion of an education that hasn't prepared students to take the next step? We should have higher expectations of our schools and of our students. We need federal policies that ensure high school curricula and assessments are tied to the reality of college and work and that states publicly report on access to college preparatory classes by income, race, and ethnicity. We must guarantee access for all students to rigorous and engaging classes in core subjects."
AGENDA
I. Intro
Michael Wotorson, Executive Director, Campaign for High School Equity
Video
II. Speaker 1
Sandy Boyd, vice president advocacy and outreach, Achieve
III. Speaker 2
Russlynn Ali, executive director, Education Trust-West
IV. Speaker 3
Joel Vargas, program director, Jobs for the Future
V. Speaker 4
Delia Pompa, vice president of education, National Council of La Raza
VI. Discussion
VII. Q & A
Strong American Schools (2008). Diploma to Nowhere. Washington, DC: Author.
Perie, M., Moran, R., and Lutkus, A.D. (2005). NAEP 2004 Trends in Academic Progress: Three Decades of Student Performance in Reading and Mathematics (NCES 2005-464). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.