Preparing Career Ready Graduates

Create a set of national board exams

Provide early childhood education for all 3-4 year olds in the country

Change retirement funding to mirror private sector, and use extra funds to pay teachers higher salaries

Create assessments that measure what matters to colleges and employers

Allow students choice to attend any school

Government should put $500 in account for every child, and contribute annually every year until age 16 to pay for higher education

States must “anchor” standards with knowledge and skills that employers actually expect

Require all students to take quality college and workplace readiness curriculum

Rigorous HS exit exams

Articulate assessments K-16

Provide information to high schools on the academic performance of their graduates in college.

Encourage states to align standards, assessments and graduation requirements with the knowledge and skills necessary for success in postsecondary education and work.

K-12 promotion of a college-going culture

Improve college preparation/readiness

Establish clear system goals for career and college readiness for all students

Create a positive school culture that stresses personalization in relationships

Create incentives for students to pursue the core curriculum in an interest-based context

Offer flexible learning opportunities to encourage re-entry and completion

Move beyond “seat time” and narrowly defined knowledge and skills

Grow your own talent

Create avenues of job advancement for current workers, job seekers, and future workers

Collaborate with all sectors (education, business, social service, government, etc.)

Clearly define necessary work competencies

Work readiness and training programs must be conveniently located and scheduled

Provide comprehensive support services (guidance counseling, child care, financial aid, etc.)

 Offer “bridge programs” to disadvantaged youth

Study their systems, policies and procedures to uncover downdraft devices.  For example, how much time is available for teaching, how much time is available for learning, and which teachers are teaching which students

Intel CEO, Craig Barrett, said, "The students are telling ust that they need to be challenged with higher expectations and tougher academic standards to help them build the foundation they need to be successful in college and work - and we need to listen.

Increase accountability for dropouts as a way of encouraging high schools to become more responsive to the needs and goals of students who are struggling to succeed in high school.

High schools should be encouraged to become more flexible in helping students achieve their personal goals after graduation.

Additional funds for middle school planning and counseling would help students and parents obtain better information about the options available to students in high school.

Using better measures of high school achievement in the admissions process would help ensure that students are adequately prepared. We think the state should use the existing Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) tests for admission and placement decisions in our postsecondary system.

Characteristics of engaged students include: Enthusiasm, Active participation, Interes, Completing work, Pride in success, Seeking assistance when needed, Social involvement, Taking challenging classes

A focus on teaching and learning that “does whatever it takes” to increase the academic skills of students and reduce dropouts.

More personal, supportive schools create an environment which encourages lower-performing students to engage in school and not dropout.

Parents must be partners with schools in keeping students on track and keep them from dropping out.

Individual vocational courses have small short-term benefits and few long-term payoffs for high school students. Students benefit primarily from taking a combination of courses that results in skill levels that advantage them in the labor market.

Community colleges have well-developed vocational education programs that result in occupational certificates or degrees. The NAVE report found these programs have significant long-term benefits to students. Students completing vocational certificate programs experience long-term earnings gains of about 10 percent (6.5 percent for men and 15 percent for women) compared to the average earnings of a high school graduate. A two-year vocational degree increases long-term earnings by almost 40 percent (30 percent for men, 47 percent for women).

Our second optional path would establish two-year vocational programs that provide an employer-validated skill certificate. These paths would be available to students who are not ready to commit to a four-year course sequence in ninth grade or who change plans during high school. To the extent feasible, these two-year paths should be coordinated with CCC programs so that students could transition seamlessly to a higher-skill postsecondary program.

Identify the courses high school students should take as a prerequisite
for entrance into a community college vocational program.

A process for determining whether high school students earn college credit for advanced courses taken in high school.

Create curricular options that help high school students succeed in their choice of pathways.

Tenth grade “check-in” counseling component that would assess each student’s progress and make any changes to the plan desired by students and parents. It is important to note that this career “counseling” would not have to be provided by certificated counselors—there are a variety of ways high schools could provide these services.

Various educational entities providing vocational classes need to work together to develop new pathways for high school students.

UC’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) found the SAT was not well-aligned with the A through G classes. Therefore, UC negotiated changes in the SAT to more closely align with the material students study in high school. The revised SAT will be given for the first time in 2005, and UC will evaluate whether these changes improve the usefulness of the test for admissions and placement decisions.

The 16 Equipped for the Future (EFF) Standards have been identified through a careful research process that began by looking at the changes in adults’ daily lives. Building on research conducted in 1990 by the Secretary’s Commission on Necessary Skills (SCANS), Equipped for the Future partners engaged adults all across the country in a research effort aimed at “mapping” the critical responsibilities of family and civic life as well as work life.

Develop academic standards for schools based on real-world skills that adults need to be successful.

Decision Making Skills (from EFF): Use math to solve problems and communicate, solve problems and make decisions, and plan

Interpersonal Skills (from EFF): Guide others, resolve conflict and negotiate, advocate and influence, and cooperate with others.

Algebra II is the benchmark course for students aspiring to highly paid professional jobs or well-paid, white-collar jobs. Geometry is the benchmark course for students intending to work in wellpaid, blue-collar jobs and low-paid/low-skilled jobs.  Four years of English that is at least at grade level is a benchmark requirement in the vast majority of jobs.