| 1 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Employers that provide formal training for their employees see a 15 to 20 percent increase in productivity | |
| 2 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Workers with more education earn higher wages. On average, college graduates earn 77 percent more than individuals with only a high school degree. | |
| 3 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Workers with more education enjoy greater benefits, experience less unemployment, and, when dislocated from their jobs, find their way back into the workforce with much more ease than those with less education. For example, dislocated workers with a high school diploma spend nearly twice as long to find a new job as a worker with an associate’s degree. | |
| 4 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | More than 90 million adult Americans have low levels of literacy. These individuals are not well-equipped to meet the challenges of the new economy and compete with workers of nations with higher literacy rates than the United States. | |
| 5 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Those in most need of skills upgrading often go without. Nearly 90 percent of those with at least a bachelor’s degree receive formal employer-provided training compared with 60 percent of those who have a high school education or less. | |
| 6 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | While the benefits from workforce skills development are clear, there are a variety of challenges that inhibit a greater investment in skills development. Often the fear of employee turnover and high training costs, particularly for small firms, serve as disincentives to employers seeking to invest in workforce education and training. Additionally, workers face a variety of constraints, such as a lack of time, money and information which impede their efforts to continue learning throughout their lives. | |
| 7 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Employers seek a variety of skills: basic, technical, organizational, and company specific | |
| 8 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Jobs requiring the greatest skills will also have the greatest rates of growth in the next decade, and these jobs require the most education and trainingFocus groups of incumbent workers interested in lifelong learning indicate that there are three primary barriers to pursuing additional education or training: the difficulty of scheduling courses, the time commitment required, and the cost. | |
| 9 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Also at issue may be a lack of good information about opportunities for workers to participate in additional education and training. Of adults who expressed an interest in work-related courses, 40 percent were unaware of relevant offerings. | |
| 10 | 21st Century Skills for 21st Century Jobs | Lack of financial resources is an issue for a majority of adults (56 percent) who are interested in acquiring additional education and training. | |
| 11 | Career Pathways How To Guide | Too few communities are thriving with robust workforce | |
| 12 | Career Pathways How To Guide | Knowledge workers (college educated, technically skilled, ability to learn and adapt rapidly, entrepreneurial approach) are attracted to cities with mountains, beaches, and universities, but are less likely to be found in rural communities, regions, or states | |
| 13 | Career Pathways How To Guide | Few incentives for "knowledge workers" in training (students) to stay "home" for education or for a career | |
| 14 | Career Pathways How To Guide | The current educational system is more of a "sieve" than a "pipeline" | |
| 15 | Ready or Not Creating a High School Diploma that Counts | Falls short of preparing students for intellectual demands of adult life | |
| 16 | Ready or Not Creating a High School Diploma that Counts | Parent and student confidence in diploma is contrasted by employer skepticism | |
| 17 | Ready or Not Creating a High School Diploma that Counts | Most high school students need remedial help in college | |
| 18 | Ready or Not Creating a High School Diploma that Counts | Most college students never attain a degree | |
| 19 | Ready or Not Creating a High School Diploma that Counts | Most employers say HS grads lack basic skills | |
| 20 | Ready or Not Creating a High School Diploma that Counts | Most workers say HS didn’t prepare them for work | |
| 21 | Reinventing American High School | About 90% of high school students take at least one CTE course, but only 1/3 of high school students take a concentration of 3 or more classes | |
| 22 | Reinventing American High School | CTE is misunderstood and confused with old voc-ed models | |
| 23 | Reinventing American High School | The achievement gap persists despite rising achievement for disadvantaged students | |
| 24 | Reinventing American High School | The achievement gap persists between US students and students from other countries | |
| 25 | Reinventing American High School | There is an “ambition gap” in the US in which American culture devalues hard work, personal achievement, and the extra effort needed to reach goals | |
| 26 | State of Decline, Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians | Poor college preparation, especially in science and math | |
| 27 | State of Decline, Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians | Low rates of college going | |
| 28 | State of Decline, Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians | Increasing high school drop-out rates | |
| 29 | State of Decline, Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians | Low rates of college completion | |
| 30 | State of Decline, Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians | Decreasing affordability of college attendance | |
| 31 | State of Decline, Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians | Disparities between racial/ethnic groups in college preparation, participation, and completion rates | |
| 32 | State of Decline, Gaps in College Access and Achievement Call for Renewed Commitment to Educating Californians | Low education levels of California’s workforce and per capita income | |
| 33 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Routine work will either be done by machines or outsourced to other countries | |
| 34 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | America must capitalize on creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship and focus on the creative-class jobs | |
| 35 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Many teachers were the lowest performing college-going graduates from their own high schools | |
| 36 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Our educational systems are inefficient, leading many students to require expensive remediation programs | |
| 37 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Standards movement has helped, but there also seems to be a leveling off especially in relation to per-pupil expenditures | |
| 38 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Growing economic disparity is mirrored by growing achievement gap | |
| 39 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | We have failed to motivate students to take the tough courses | |
| 40 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Teacher compensation rewards service time, not effectiveness | |
| 41 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | | |
| 42 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | In most schools/districts, the people in power don’t have the responsibility, and the people with responsibility don’t have the power | |
| 43 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Low literacy might capsize the whole system | |
| 44 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | It is very difficult for adults to return to school as most funding support goes to new students | |
| 45 | Updraft Downdraft book review | Students whose sole academic focus is a high school diploma have little motivation to learn "because the diploma has little societal value." | |
| 46 | Updraft Downdraft book review | Students choose the path of least resistance through the maze of course requirements often earning credit without learning much. | |
| 47 | Updraft Downdraft book review | When teachers are granted autonomy by administrators in exchange for maintaining orderly classrooms, they are unlikely to create challenging academic environments. | |
| 48 | Updraft Downdraft book review | School leaders and teachers do not review data systematically except student achievement data. Therefore, the overlook very useful artifacts such as the school calendar and master schedule. | |
| 49 | Tough Choices, Tougher Times (exec summary) | Implementing changes in states with teacher unions will be more difficult than in other states | |
| 50 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | As Many as 40 Percent of American Public High School Graduates Are Unprepared For College and Work, According to the Graduates, Their Employers and College Professors | Data |
| 51 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | More than 80 Percent of High School Graduates Say They Would Work Harder, Take Tougher Courses, If They Could Do High School Over Again | Data |
| 52 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | Over three-quarters of all graduates not in college (77 percent) and nearly two-thirds of those in college (65 percent) would have applied themselves more in high school if they knew what they know now. | Data |
| 53 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | According to the survey – released today by Achieve, Inc. – college instructors estimate that more than
two out of five (42 percent) college students are not adequately prepared by the education they received in
high school to meet the expectations of college. | Data |
| 54 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | 39 percent of recent graduates enrolled in college say they have gaps in their preparation | Data |
| 55 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | Employers estimate that 39 percent of recent high school graduates are unprepared for the expectations that they face in entry-level jobs, | Data |
| 56 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | 8 in 10 (81 percent) recent graduates say that they would have worked harder if their high school experience had demanded more of them. | Data |
| 57 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | Students who faced high expectations in high school are much more likely to feel well prepared for the
expectations of college (80 percent) than are college students who faced moderate (58 percent) or low
expectations (37 percent). | Data |
| 58 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | College students who took Algebra Two or higher level math courses in high school are more than twice as likely to feel prepared for the math they are expected to do in college (60 percent feel well prepared) than students who did not take Algebra Two (26 percent). | Data |
| 59 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | 68 percent of non-students who took Algebra Two or higher feel prepared for the math they are expected to do at work, compared with 46 percent of those who did not take Algebra Two. | Data |
| 60 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | Fewer than half (46 percent) of all graduates were asked to do a great deal of writing in high school. | Data |
| 61 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | Seven in ten college instructors spend at least some or a significant amount of class time reviewing material and addressing skills that they think should have been taught in high school. College instructors estimate that half of the students at their schools are inadequately prepared to do college level math and the same proportion is inadequately prepared for college level writing. | Data |
| 62 | Achieve Inc. College Readiness Report | Only a quarter of employers say that recent high school graduates are well prepared for jobs in their companies, while three quarters say that graduates of two and four year colleges or training programs are well prepared. Eighty four percent of high school graduates not in college believe they will need to go to college or get more formal training in order to get the jobs they want in
the future. | Data |
| 63 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Compared to non-Hispanic whites or African-American students, Hispanic students are much less likely to obtain higher education degrees. | |
| 64 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | There is clearly a gap, in other words, between what Hispanic parents say they want for their children, and the paths those children actually follow. | |
| 65 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Many of these college-maybe students appear to be academically qualified for college work, but they also struggle with challenges ranging from lack of financial resources to a sometimes stunning lack of knowledge of the rules of the game. | |
| 66 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Many of the college-maybe students we interviewed had little knowledge of higher education and no direct or clear adult guidance in making educational choices. | |
| 67 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Absent strong adult guidance, we found that the students we interviewed were often shockingly misinformed about higher education. | |
| 68 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Many of the students we spoke with were already working 20 to 40 hours a week, or had other work options (such as military service) available to them after graduation. | |
| 69 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | The combination of minimal adult supervision and misinformation often caused the students we interviewed to make poorly informed choices about higher education, choices that might result in a student never completing a higher education degree. | |
| 70 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Although Hispanic parents are more likely to emphasize the importance of getting a college education, Hispanic students are significantly less likely to complete either a two-year or a four-year degree. | |
| 71 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Among minority groups, Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing segment of the country’s population, and data regularly suggest that Hispanic youngsters evidence the most severe educational disadvantages. | |
| 72 | With Diploma in Hand: Hispanic High School Seniors Talk About Their Future | Many students move from school to school as their parents move from neighborhood to neighborhood. | |
| 73 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Research and data suggest that the factors leading to student dropouts
are in place by the time students enter ninth grade. Despite decades of trying, research has not identified programs or services that consistently reduce dropout rates. | |
| 74 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | 50% of general track students attend college after graduation and the other 50% enter the labor force. Research and data indicate that many in this group do not have clear postgraduation goals, which prevents these students from using high school most effectively to make a smooth transition to adult life. | |
| 75 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | High schools appear to promote four-year college degrees and de-emphasize attractive community college vocational options. | |
| 76 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Entering college freshmen frequently lack the English or mathematics skills required for study at the university level. Higher education admissions and placement policies contribute to the problem, as they fail to clearly communicate
the skill levels needed for success in college. | |
| 77 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Students need other viable alternatives besides getting a four-year college diploma—only about 15 percent of high school graduates earn a college diploma in the decade after high school. | |
| 78 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | As the figure indicates, 45 percent of students attend college after high school—17 percent enroll in four-year institutions and 28 percent attend community colleges. The other 55 percent of students do not attend college in the first two years after graduation—although they may return later in their adult lives. | |
| 79 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | A total of 19 percent of recent graduates were unemployed, which is defined as actively seeking work, but unable to find a job. For graduates enrolled in college, 12 percent were unemployed. | |
| 80 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Meeting both the graduation and A through G requirements requires students to take 17 specific courses. (In most subject areas, the A through G requirements
call for more courses. In history and physical education, however, the graduation requirements are higher.) | |
| 81 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | All high school courses in the subject areas identified for university admissions do not necessarily qualify as meeting the A through G requirements. The UC must specifically approve each high school course that counts toward these requirements. | |
| 82 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | In 1999-2000, 5.6 percent of students dropped out of school during ninth grade, while 9.1 percent of students dropped out during twelfth grade (or did not graduate). Cumulatively, this cohort of students lost about 30 percent of the original class over the four years. | |
| 83 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | The dropout problem is not uniform across the state. Large urban school districts have higher—sometimes significantly higher—dropout rates than the state average. For example, we estimate dropout rates for the same 1999-00 ninth grade class for Oakland Unified and Los Angeles Unified School Districts at 50 percent and 55 percent, respectively. San Diego Unified and Long Beach Unified School Districts did considerably better—with dropout rates of about 35 percent—but still exceeded the statewide average. | |
| 84 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | “Dropping out of high school is for many students the last step in a long process through which students become disengaged from school.” Another way to describe an engaged student is “self-motivated.” When disengagement becomes advanced, however, frustration and alienation can result in increased absenteeism
and behavior problems and, eventually, dropping out. | |
| 85 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | About 40 percent of the general track will go on to community college—far fewer than the 70 percent who plan to go to a four-year university or community
college. Similarly, roughly 60 percent of this group will go directly to work after graduation—far more than the 12 percent to 18 percent reported in the CAHSEE survey. | |
| 86 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | A Significant Proportion of High School Graduates Drop Out of Community College After Only One Semester. Almost one-half of recent graduates enrolling in a community college attend on a part-time basis. Of this group, 40 percent fail to return the next semester. | |
| 87 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | More Than 40 Percent of Recent Graduates in CCC Need Basic Skills Remedial Courses. State-required placement tests show that recent high school graduates enrolling in CCC need to repeat high school courses in basic English reading and writing (at least two levels below the transfer freshman composition course) and mathematics (below Algebra I). | |
| 88 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Many College Students Are Still Unclear About the Role of Education in Their Lives. About 25 percent of recent high school graduates begin community college with no declared goal for what they want to achieve in college even though the CCC course planning process encourages students to design their schedules according to their personal goals. | |
| 89 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Counselors Often Recommend College for Virtually All Students. Research on high school counseling programs found that counselors often “advise college for almost everyone.” Even with lower-performing students, counselors are “reluctant to confront students who had unrealistic expectations regarding college or job plans.” | |
| 90 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Students Are Not Aware That High School Achievement May Not Meet CCC Standards. The PACE report on community colleges found that many students were not aware that passing a high school course does not mean a student has met CCC standards. | |
| 91 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | General Track Students Are Unfamiliar With the A Through G Requirements. The PACE study also found that less than one-half of students planning to attend a CCC after graduation were familiar with the A through G requirements. As a result, students interested in transferring from community college to a four-year university may be unaware they must first satisfy the A through G requirements in community college before they can begin taking transfer-level courses. | |
| 92 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | While Tech-Prep modestly improves coordination between high school and community college vocational programs, aligning the academic courses needed for success in occupations is much less common. In addition, few programs use Tech-Prep as a funnel to direct students into postsecondary education. | |
| 93 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Data from CCC show only about 5,500, or 4 percent, of recent high school graduates who enroll in CCC begin with the goal of earning a vocational certificate or degree. The data reinforce our previous findings that virtually all students are encouraged to attend college for an academic degree. | |
| 94 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Vocational education, as it currently exists, has little to offer high school students.
Individual courses have little impact on the long-term career prospects for students, and schools have scant experience in creating course sequences that payoff for students and encourage them to enroll in CCC vocational programs. | |
| 95 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | Unfortunately, grades are not a reliable measure of student achievement. Course grades are known to be subjective, with grading standards varying significantly among districts, schools, and teachers within a school. In addition,
grade inflation in K-12 education is becoming a source of concern to colleges throughout the country, and students can “cherry pick” classes to maximize good grades. | |
| 96 | Improving High School: A Strategic Approach | The lack of good data on high school dropouts complicates the state’s desire to hold schools and districts accountable for addressing this problem. | |
| 97 | Great Expectations: How Californians View Higher Educaiton | Most people in California believe that a higher education is essential for a person to
succeed in today’s world. In effect, California residents now see a college education as having replaced a high school diploma as the minimum entry ticket to a solid job and a middle-class lifestyle. | |
| 98 | Great Expectations: How Californians View Higher Educaiton | Californians have high expectations for what they expect students to take away from a college education. | |
| 99 | Great Expectations: How Californians View Higher Educaiton | The California public sees a higher education not as an entitlement, but as something students should have to work for, and the notion of a free higher education is not attractive to very many state residents. | |
| 100 | Great Expectations: How Californians View Higher Educaiton | College is perceived as expensive, and 64% of California residents strongly or
somewhat agree that families are not doing a good job of saving for college. | |