Beyond Grade 12
Preparing for College and Careers
This four-part series focuses on how K-12 education prepares students for the future, with installments running monthly from March 2006 through June 2006.
School & District Management
States Push to Align Policies From Pre-K to Postsecondary
Faced with stiffer economic competition and worried about the skills of their future workforces, many states are trying to connect education from preschool through postsecondary so that more students are prepared for further study, work, and citizenship.
College & Workforce Readiness
As ‘Accelerated Learning’ Booms, High School-College Divide Blurs
One indication that the lines between high schools and colleges are blurring is the growth in programs that permit students to earn college credit while still in high school.
College & Workforce Readiness
States Striving to Build Data Systems Across Education Levels
To help track whether students are being prepared for further education and work, many states are trying to connect their data systems from preschool through postsecondary education.
College & Workforce Readiness
Vocational Programs Earn Mixed Reviews, Face Academic Push
When it comes to work readiness, no topic is more debated than the place of career and technical education in high schools.
College & Workforce Readiness
Ambiguity About Preparation for Workforce Clouds Efforts to Equip Students for Future
Preparing students to succeed in the workforce is increasingly seen as a key to global competitiveness. But employers aren't sending clear-cut answers on what young people need to know and be able to do on the job.
College & Workforce Readiness
An Alternative Approach to Gauging Readiness
A coalition of small high schools in New York state is challenging the notion that using standardized tests and curricula is the best way to prepare all students for college-level work.
College & Workforce Readiness
Views Differ on Defining College Prep
One of the overarching goals of the national push to redesign high schools is increasing the number of students who graduate ready for college. Yet pinning down what people mean by “college readiness” and how to measure it is no easy task.
College & Workforce Readiness
Calif. High Schoolers Get Preview of College-Placement Test
Faced with thousands of incoming students who needed remedial classes, the California State University system launched an effort in 2001 to provide high school juniors with an early signal of whether they have the English and math skills necessary for college, and to provide help for those who don’t.
Science
Talk of U.S. Crisis in Math, Science is Largely Misplaced, Skeptics Say
Contemporary warnings about the gathering storm facing the U.S. economy are being met with some skepticism. The skeptics don't challenge the need for improving math and science education at the K-12 level, a course of action that is at the heart of most of the current proposals aimed at protecting America's competitiveness. They just wonder if it's the right solution to the wrong problem.
School & District Management
Economic Trends Fuel Push to Retool Schooling
With an urgency not seen in decades, policy leaders concerned about America’s global competitiveness and widening income gaps within U.S. society are propelling issues of academic and workforce preparation to the forefront of the nation’s education policy debates.