High School Expectations

From PEN Newsblast on April 19.

CLOSING THE "EXPECTATIONS GAP"

One-quarter of all states have implemented
significantly tougher graduation requirements,
and virtually every state has taken steps to
ratchet up expectations for high school students,
according to a national survey of high school
reform efforts conducted by Washington, D.C.
-based Achieve, Inc. The survey updates the
efforts of all 50 states to align their high
school standards, graduation requirements,
assessments, and accountability systems with
the demands of college and work, and finds that
at least 48 states are now actively engaged in
reform efforts of some kind. There is more
momentum in the states now than at any time
since education reform became a national priority
with the release of A Nation at Risk in 1983.
Some of the most dramatic progress has been made
in the area of graduation requirements, where 13
states, up from just two in 2004, now require high
school students to complete a college- and work-ready
curriculum in order to earn a diploma.  According
to the survey report, "Closing the Expectations Gap
2007", 16 additional states are taking steps to
implement similar graduation requirements, which
include four years of challenging mathematics at
least through Algebra II and four years of rigorous
English. States also have achieved significant
progress in making academic standards rigorous
enough in English and mathematics so that they
accurately reflect real world expectations, but
have moved more slowly in developing complementary
assessment systems and holding high schools
accountable for the college-readiness of their
students. "While the federal government has been
driving K-8 education policy, states are leading
the way on high school reform," said Michael Cohen,
president of Achieve. "This is a heavy lift for
governors, but their leadership is urgently needed
as states take the steps to prepare young people
to succeed in the global economy where good jobs
increasingly require some postsecondary education.
College-ready skills are a must for every high school
graduate today."
http://www.achieve.org/node/844