The American Diploma Project recently published Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma that Counts, which indicates that high school graduates are inadequately prepared for college and work. For example, from the Executive Summary: More than 70 Percent of graduates enter two- and four-year colleges and universities, but at least 28 percent of those students immediately take remedial English or math courses. and More than 60 percent of employers rate graduates' skills in grammar, spelling, writing, and basic math as only "fair" or "poor."
Recommendations in the report are suggested for states and postsecondary institutions, for the federal government, and for business leaders. Among the recommendations are that states should: [h]old postsecondary institutions accountable for the academic success of the students they admit -- including learning, persistence and degree completion -- rather than allowing them to continue to place ill-prepared students in remedial, non-credit-bearing courses and then replace dropouts with new students the following year.
The entire report is available here, and is also discussed on the main page www.achieve.org. |
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