The hard work of high school reform is gaining momentum. The National Governors Association devoted substantial time to the issue at its meeting earlier this year. The new secretary of education, Margaret Spellings, began her tenure with a call for high schools to follow the lead of No Child Left Behind. Several policy organizations have issued reports addressing the need for high school reform.

At ACT, we have long focused on student success in secondary schools. Our data made clear to us years ago that students who take a core curriculum of college-preparatory classes are better prepared to succeed in college than their peers who do not enroll in such classes. We have encouraged students to take the most challenging courses available to them. At every opportunity we have also called on counselors, teachers, and parents to offer the same advice. More recently, we have become convinced that those same courses are necessary to prepare high school graduates for the workforce.

Recently ACT and The Education Trust conducted a joint research study that defines, for the first time, the specific rigorous academic skills that must be included in English, math, and science courses to prepare high schoolers for college and work. By studying 10 U.S. high schools that meet high performance standards—nine of them serving low-income, highly diverse populations—we've learned more about what works.

We've learned that these high-performing schools share four major characteristics: high-level, college-oriented content in core courses; qualified and experienced teachers; teaching that is flexible and responsive to students; and out-of-classroom support for students.

The authors of the report recommend that high schools reevaluate the content of their college-preparatory classes to ensure they focus on the high-level skills needed for college and work readiness.

Previous research has already indicated all students benefit from a rigorous curriculum and that the skills needed for success in the workplace are the same as those needed for success in the first year of college. This study gives us a clearer view of what that rigorous curriculum actually looks like.