Aligning High School Graduation Requirements with the Real World
Aligning High School Graduation Requirements with the Real World

Author: Achieve, Inc., Washington, DC.

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 33

ISBN-13:

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The link between strong academic preparation in high school and success in college and careers is clearer than it has ever been. Recognizing that the standards students have to meet in the "real world" have become more demanding, governors and policymakers in a growing number of states are taking action to increase the requirements for earning a high school diploma, thus ensuring students graduate with the skills they need to be successful. This policy brief captures lessons learned by states that have put higher requirements in place. It addresses the most frequently cited challenges of policy design as well as strategies for implementation, communication and coalition building. Specifically, the brief describes how to: (1) determine the parameters of the graduation policy; (2) design an accountability system that provides schools with incentives to graduate students college and career ready; (3) plan for successful implementation; and (4) build support for the graduation policy. Also included is a chart showing comparison of state college- and career-ready high school graduation requirements.

The Expectations Gap
The Expectations Gap

Author: Achieve, Inc., Washington, DC.

Publisher:

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 27

ISBN-13:

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High school graduation requirements in states throughout the U.S. were reviewed to better understand how well they align with what students need to be successful in college or the workplace. It was found that no state requires its graduates to take the courses that reflect the real-world demands of work and postsecondary education. Recommendations include the following: (1) requiring all students to take a common college and work-preparatory curriculum in math and English; (2) giving attention to content, not just course titles; (3) aligning academic standards in high school with the knowledge and skills required for college and workplace success; (4) working with postsecondary officials and employers to define the knowledge and skills necessary for graduates to successfully perform in college and the workplace; (5) providing clear guidance on essential courses and allowing flexibility for instructional approaches. States should encourage all students to pursue accelerated options for earning postsecondary credit while in high school.

You Can't Do It Alone
You Can't Do It Alone

Author: Jean Johnson

Publisher: R&L Education

Published: 2011-12-16

Total Pages: 186

ISBN-13: 1610483022

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Experts and reformers have suggested many promising ideas for improving schools and ramping up student learning, but in too many cases, proposals for change run up against resistance, confusion, and anxiety from key stakeholders such as teachers, parents, students, and members of the broader public. To propel change—and to sustain it—school leaders need to understand what is driving these responses and develop more effective strategies for engaging these groups in the mission of reform. You Can’t Do It Alone provides school leaders with a crisp summary of opinion research among teachers, parents, and the public conducted by Public Agenda, Education Sector and other respected analysts. It offers tips on what leaders can do to more successfully engage these groups in areas such as reforming teacher evaluation, turning around low-performing schools, and building support for world-class standards. The book also introduces a theory of change and public learning developed by social scientist Daniel Yankelovich, along with some practical rules of the road for promoting the kind of dialogue that leads to consensus and action.

School Dropout and Completion
School Dropout and Completion

Author: Stephen Lamb

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-11-29

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 9048197635

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School dropout remains a persistent and critical issue in many school systems, so much so that it is sometimes referred to as a crisis. Populations across the globe have come to depend on success at school for establishing careers and gaining access to post-school qualifications. Yet large numbers of young people are excluded from the advantages that successful completion of school brings and as a result are subjected to consequences such as higher likelihood of unemployment, lower earnings, greater dependence on welfare and poorer physical health and well-being. Over recent decades, most western nations have stepped up their efforts to reduce drop out and raise school completion rates while maintaining high standards. How school systems have approached this, and how successful they are, varies. This book compares the various approaches by evaluating their impact on rates of dropout and completion. Case studies of national systems are used to highlight the different approaches including institutional arrangements and the various alternative secondary school programs and their outcomes. The evaluation is based on several key questions: What are the main approaches? How do they work? For whom do they work? And, how successful are they in promoting high rates of completion and equivalent outcomes for all? This book examines the nature of the dropout problem in advanced industrialized countries with the goal of developing a broader, international understanding that can feed into public policy to help improve completion rates worldwide.

Dropping Out
Dropping Out

Author: Russell W. Rumberger

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2012-11-19

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 0674266897

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The vast majority of kids in the developed world finish high school—but not in the United States. More than a million kids drop out every year, around 7,000 a day, and the numbers are rising. Dropping Out offers a comprehensive overview by one of the country’s leading experts, and provides answers to fundamental questions: Who drops out, and why? What happens to them when they do? How can we prevent at-risk kids from short-circuiting their futures? Students start disengaging long before they get to high school, and the consequences are severe—not just for individuals but for the larger society and economy. Dropouts never catch up with high school graduates on any measure. They are less likely to find work at all, and more likely to live in poverty, commit crimes, and suffer health problems. Even life expectancy for dropouts is shorter by seven years than for those who earn a diploma. Rumberger advocates targeting the most vulnerable students as far back as the early elementary grades. And he levels sharp criticism at the conventional definition of success as readiness for college. He argues that high schools must offer all students what they need to succeed in the workplace and independent adult life. A more flexible and practical definition of achievement—one in which a high school education does not simply qualify you for more school—can make school make sense to young people. And maybe keep them there.

Chicano School Failure and Success
Chicano School Failure and Success

Author: Richard R. Valencia

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2011-02-01

Total Pages: 466

ISBN-13: 1136860355

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The third edition of the best selling collection, Chicano School Failure and Success presents a complete and comprehensive review of the multiple and complex issues affecting Chicano students today. Richly informative and accessibly written, this edition includes completely revised and updated chapters that incorporate recent scholarship and research on the current realities of the Chicano school experience. It features four entirely new chapters on important topics such as la Chicana, two way dual language education, higher education, and gifted Chicano students. Contributors to this edition include experts in fields ranging from higher education, bilingual education, special education, gifted education, educational psychology, and anthropology. In order to capture the broad nature of Chicano school failure and success, contributors provide an in-depth look at topics as diverse as Chicano student dropout rates, the relationship between Chicano families and schools, and the impact of standards-based school reform and deficit thinking on Chicano student achievement. Committed to understanding the plight and improvement of schooling for Chicanos, this timely new edition addresses all the latest issues in Chicano education and will be a valued resource for students, educators, researchers, policy makers, and community activists alike.

Every School
Every School

Author: Donald P. Nielsen

Publisher: Discovery Institute

Published: 2019-03-25

Total Pages: 254

ISBN-13: 9781936599622

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How would an entrepreneur reform education? In Every School, Don Nielsen draws on his business career and two decades as a school activist, to offer innovative solutions to the educational challenges facing our country. Lasting change, Nielsen argues, will not come mainly through local school boards, but rather through state legislative action that empowers school administrators to make choices in the interests of their students. The book is essential reading for parents, policymakers and citizens who want to improve the present system, and who have the courage to pursue the recommendations contained within. This updated version includes a "game plan" for a state with specific steps to implement the changes Nielsen recommends.

Closing the Expectations Gap 2013. 50-State Progress Report on the Alignment of State K-12 Policies and Practice with the Demands of College and Careers
Closing the Expectations Gap 2013. 50-State Progress Report on the Alignment of State K-12 Policies and Practice with the Demands of College and Careers

Author: Achieve, Inc

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13:

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This eighth annual report has taken a directional change from prior years where the primary aim was preparing students to graduate from high school. The new focus is on the K-12 alignment where, at the direction of 48 states, the National Governors Association, and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the Common Core State Standards were developed. Twenty-six states and the National Research Council requested the writing of the "Next Generation Science Standards"; and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers is developing next generation assessments. Since the first report in 2005, Achieve has worked along with state teams, governors, state education officials, postsecondary leaders, and business executives to improve postsecondary preparation by aligning key policies with the demands of the real world so that all students graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills they need to fully reach their promise in college, careers and life. This report has defined and monitored the adoption of a set of core state policies that are essential to making college and career readiness for all students the mission of the K-12 education system: academic content standards, graduation requirements, assessments, and accountability systems. "Closing the Expectations Gap, 2013" is the eighth annual report in this series. The report details the progress--and lack of progress--in advancing state policies to shift the U.S. public education system toward one that prepares all students to graduate from high school with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college, careers, and citizenship. Appendices include: (1) Achieve Resources; (2) Methodology; and (3) State-by State Tables. (Contains 20 endnotes.) [For "Closing the Expectations Gap, 2012: 50-State Progress Report on the Alignment of K-12 Policies and Practice with the Demands of College and Careers," see ED535986.].

Postsecondary Play
Postsecondary Play

Author: William G. Tierney

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2014-06

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 142141306X

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Summarizing a decade of research in game design and learning, Postsecondary Play will appeal to higher education scholars and students of learning, online gaming, education, and the media.