Aligning High School and College Curricula

Posted by on October 27, 2006

[posted from Public Education Network newsblast]

WHY WE MUST ALIGN HIGH SCHOOL CURRICULUM WITH COLLEGE EXPECTATIONS

Millions of high school seniors have signed college acceptance letters as of May 1, but does making it into college ensure academic success and a degree? A new Policy Perspectives paper from WestEd argues that high schools and colleges haven’t aligned their separate education systems enough to eliminate college remedial work, decrease college dropout rates, and speed the time toward earning a baccalaureate degree. David T. Conley outlines the alarming indicators of a system that is not functioning as efficiently as it could: (1) Between 30 and 60 percent of students now require remedial college courses, an increase over previous years; (2) For those who make it to college graduation, on average it now takes six years to earn a four-year college degree; and (3) While more companies now expect a college degree as a baseline for employment, the percentage of high school students who go on to earn bachelor’s degrees has remained relatively constant over the past 25 years. “If we are to address such problems,” says Conley, “it’s going to take a coordinated, concerted reform effort involving all stakeholders — policymakers, high school educators, college faculty and administrators, parents, and students.” Conley proposes several actions to smooth the transition between high school and college and ensure academic success at:

http://www.wested.org/cs/we/view/rs/810