the case for action

The Case for Action

2

Case for action

■ The global economy is changing the nature of work and the kinds of jobs young people will enter.

■ Students need higher levels of knowledge and skills than ever before to succeed in today’s workplaces.

■ Few states require high school students to take courses they need to succeed in college and the workplace.

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What knowledge and skills do students need to succeed after high school graduation?

4

A high school diploma is not the last educational stop required

Jobs that require at

least some

postsecondary

education will

make up more than

two-thirds of new

jobs.

Source: Carnevale, Anthony P. and Donna M. Desrochers, Standards for What?The Economic Roots of K–16 Reform, Educational Testing Service, 2003.

Share of new jobs, 2000–10

10%

22%

36%

31%High school dropout

High schooldiploma

Somepostsecondary

Bachelor's degree

5

In today’s workforce, jobs require more education than ever before

32%40%

12% 16%9%

31% 28% 32%

0%

20%

40%

60%

High school dropouts High schoolgraduates

Some college/assoc.degree

Bachelor's degreeand higher

Employment share, 1973 Employment share, 2001

-23%

-9%

+16%+16%

Source: Carnevale, Anthony P. and Donna M. Desrochers, Standards for What? The Economic Roots of K–16 Reform, ETS, 2003.

Change in the distribution of education in jobs1973 v. 2001

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American Diploma Project:Identifying knowledge and skills students need to succeed in college and work

■ Achieve, Inc.; The Education Trust; and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation launched the American Diploma Project to identify knowledge and skills students need in English and math to be college and work ready.

■ Partnered with Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Nevada and Texas.

■ Involved wide variety of K–12, higher education and business representatives.

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To be college and work ready, students need to complete a rigorous sequence of courses

■ In math:● Four courses

● Content equivalent to Algebra I and II, Geometry, and a fourth course such as Statistics or Precalculus

■ In English:● Four courses

● Content equivalent to four years of grade-level English or higher (i.e., honors or AP English)

To cover the content that American Diploma Project research shows students need to be college and work ready, high school graduates need to complete:

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Whether graduates are going to college or work, they need the same skills

■ Research by the American Diploma Project and ACT found high degree of convergence.

■ The knowledge and skills that high school graduates will need to be successful in college are the same as those they will need to be successful in a job that:

● pays enough to support a family well above the poverty level, ● provides benefits, and

● offers clear pathways for career advancement through further education and training.

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Even blue-collar jobs requirehigh-level skills

■ Requirements for iron workers:● Recommended high school courses include Algebra, Geometry and Physics.

■ Requirements for electricians: ● Recommended high school courses include Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and Physics.

■ Requirements for sheet metal workers:● Four or five years of apprenticeship

● Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry and technical reading

■ Requirements for draftsmen:

● Recommended high school courses include Geometry and Trigonometry.

● Draftsmen may wish to seek additional study in mathematics and computer-aided design to keep up with technological progress within the industry.

Sources: American Diploma Project, 2002; The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) http://www.agc.org/page.ww?section=About+AGC&name=About+AGC.

http://www.agc.org/page.ww?section=About+AGC&name=About+AGC

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Students who take advanced courses are more likely to earn a college degree

13.4%

31.0%

46.4%

64.7%

3.9%5.4%

75.9%82.1%

60.0%

7.0%

16.7%

39.3%

83.3%

74.6%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Prea

lgeb

ra

Alge

bra I

Geom

etry

Alge

bra II

Trigon

omet

ry

Prec

alcu

lus

Calcu

lus

Class of 1982Class of 1992

Bachelor’s degree attainment by highest level of math reached, high school classes of 1982 and 1992

Source: Adelman, Clifford, The Toolbox Revisited: Paths to Degree Completion from High School through College, Table 5, U.S. Department of Education, 2006.

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And more education means more earning power

$2.5 million$50,000Bachelor’s degree

$1.8 million$38,000Associate degree

$1.4 million$31,000High school diploma

$1.1 million$22,000High school dropout

Average Lifetime Earnings

Average Annual Earnings

Education

Source: College Board, Education Pays, 2004.

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How prepared are our students?

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Only about half of African American and Latino students graduate from high school in four years

Source: Manhattan Institute, Public High School Graduation and College-Readiness Rates: 1991–2002, February 2005, http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/ewp_08.htm.

On-time high school graduation, 2002

52%56%

78%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Latino African American White

Perc

enta

ge o

f 9th

gra

de s

tudents

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High school graduation rate: United States trails most developed countries

OECD Reporting Country

Graduation Rate (%)

1 Denmark 100 2 Norway 97 3 Germany 93 4 Japan 92 5 Poland 90 5 Switzerland 90 7 Finland 85 7 Greece 85 9 France 82

9 Hungary 82 9 Italy 82

12 Czech Republic 81 13 Belgium 79 13 Iceland 79 15 Ireland 77 16 United States 73 17 Sweden 72 18 Luxembourg 68 18 Spain 68 20 Slovak Republic 61

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Education at a Glance 2004, 2004.

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Yet only thirteen states require a college- and work-ready diploma … although others plan to

Source: Achieve Survey/Research, 2007.

I D

A Z

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M T

W Y

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P l a n s t o R a i s e G r a d u a t i o n R e q u i r e m e n t s

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Most state testing systems do not assess college and work readiness

■ 26 states require students to pass an exam before they graduate high school.*

■ Yet most states have testing systems that do not measure college and work readiness.**

*Source: Center on Education Policy, State High School Exit Exams: States Try Harder, But Gaps Persist, August 2005.**Source: Achieve Survey/Research, 2006.

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Graduation exams in 26 states establish the performance “floor”

Figure reads: Alaska has a mandatory exit exam in 2005 and is withholding diplomas from students based on exam performance. Arizona is phasing in a mandatory exit exam and plans to begin withholding diplomas based on this exam in 2006. Connecticut does not have an exit exam, nor is it scheduled to implement one.

Source: Center on Education Policy, based on information collected from state departments of education, July 2005.

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What does it take to pass state tests?

■ Achieve conducted a study of graduation exams in six states to determine how high a bar the tests set for students.

■ The results show that these tests tend to measure only 8th, 9th or 10th grade content, rather than the skills students need to succeed in college and the workplace.

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The tests Achieve analyzed

StateGrade Given Reading Writing Math

First Graduating Class Facing Requirement

Florida 10th • • 2003

Maryland End of course • • • 2009

Massachusetts 10th • • • 2003

New Jersey 11th • • • 2003

Ohio 10th • • 2007

Texas 11th • • • 2004

Source: Achieve, Inc., Do Graduation Tests Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School Exit Exams, 2004.

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Students can pass state math tests knowing content typically taught in 7th and 8th grade internationally

8.68.1

7.4

8.2 8.3

7.1

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

Inte

rnati

onal G

rade P

lace

ment

FL MD MA NJ OH TX


Grade when most international students cover contentrequired to pass state math tests

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Students can pass state English tests with skills ACT expects of 8th and 9th graders

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

FL

MD

MA

NJ

OH

TX

ACT EXPLORE (8th/9th)

ACT PLAN (10th)

ACT (11th/12th)


22

Postsecondary remediation offers a second chance, but it comes with a steep price tag

■ States, postsecondary institutions, employers and young people spend more than $17 billion per year on remedial classes so students can gain the knowledge and skills they should have acquired in high school.

23

Too many students need remediation in core subjects

Nearly three out of 10

first-year students are

placed immediately into

a remedial college

course.

Percentage of U.S. first-year students in two-year and four-year institutions requiring remediation

28%

22%

14%

11%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Reading,writing or math

Math

Writing

Reading

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Remedial Education at Degree-Granting PostsecondaryInstitutions in Fall 2000, 2003.

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Source: National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 2004.

And most U.S. college students who take remedial courses fail to earn degrees

Many college students who need remediation, especially in reading and math, do not earn either an associate or a bachelor’s degree.

Percentage of college students not earning degree by type of remedial coursework

76%

63%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

Remedial reading Remedial math

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The result: United States also lags behind most developed countries in college graduation rates

OECD Reporting Country

Graduation Rate (%)

1 Japan 942 Turkey 883 Ireland 854 United Kingdom 835 Korea 796 Spain 777 Finland 758 Iceland 739 Germany 70

10 Mexico 6911 Australia 6912 Denmark 6913 Netherlands 6914 United States 6615 Czech Republic 6116 Belgium (Fl.) 6017 Austria 5918 France 5919 Sweden 4820 Italy 42

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Education at a Glance 2004, 2004.

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What do recent high school graduates tell us about the expectations they faced?

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Most high school graduates were moderately challenged

24% 26%20%

56% 57%53%

20%17%

26%

0%

20%

40%

60%

High expectations/I wassignificantly challenged

Moderate expectations/Iwas somewhat challenged

Low expectations/prettyeasy to slide by

All high school graduates

Collegestudents

Students whodid not goto college

Source: Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.

28

46%42%

7% 12%

32%34%

11%15%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

High school graduates who went to college

61%

39%

53%46%

High school graduates who did not go to college

Many high school graduates cite gaps in preparation How well did your high school education prepare you for college or the work/jobs you hope to get in the future?

Extremely well: prepared for everything

Very well: generally able to do what’s expected Not well: large gaps/struggling Somewhat well: some gaps


29

42% 45%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

High school graduates notprepared for college-level

classes

High school graduates notprepared to advance

beyond entry-level jobs

College instructors/employers confirm high school graduates’ lack of preparation

Average estimated proportions of recent high school graduates who are not prepared


30

Knowing what they know today, high school graduates would have worked harder

65%

77%

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

High schoolgraduates whowent to college

High schoolgraduates who didnot go to college

Would have applied myself more


31

17%

63%

18%

18%

64%

15%

If high school had demanded more, graduates would have worked harder

82% 80%

Would have worked harder Strongly feel I would have worked harder

Wouldn’t have worked harder

High school graduates who went to college

High school graduates who did not go to college


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72%

48%

41%

38%

62%

29%

34%

32%

College studentsStudents who did not go to college

Majority of graduates would have taken harder courses

Knowing what you know today about the expectations of college/work …

Would have taken more challenging courses in:

Would have taken more challenging courses in at least one area

Math

Science

English


33

Closing the expectations gap requires states to take action

■ Align high school standards and assessments with the knowledge and skills required for success in postsecondary education and work.

■ Administer a college- and work-ready assessment, aligned to state standards, to high school students so they get clear and timely information and are able to address critical skill deficiencies while still in high school.

■ Require all students to take a college- and work-ready curriculum to earn a high school diploma.

■ Hold high schools accountable for graduating students who are college ready, and hold postsecondary institutions accountable for their success once enrolled.