Success is all about attaining the right skills for the opportunities available.

In workforce development these days, employees must be able to learn continuously. Technological advances continue to come at a faster and faster pace. Companies cannot afford to keep employees who do not have the foundational skills needed to learn. They certainly don’t want to hire such workers. Many states and regions now are creating credential certificate programs. Applicants who earn a career readiness certificate are a step ahead in the job hunt because they can demonstrate their foundational skills to a potential employer. They can prove they have the skills they need to continue learning.

Of course, those foundational skills are learned primarily in our nation’s pre-K through high school classrooms. We know that students who take the most challenging courses available to them in core areas are better prepared for higher education and workforce training. We also know that students need role models and guidance to successfully chart their courses through middle school and high school. In this issue of Activity, you’ll meet educators in south Texas taking those lessons to heart.

We are still learning about what makes a course successful, and ACT is at the forefront of research in the field. We’re working in partnership with the National Governors Association to learn more about what constitutes rigor in high school courses. We’re also working with the National Assessment Governing Board to write a new framework for a national writing test. And, of course, we continue our own research.

Results of our most recent study—which focused on reading skills—are on this page. It showed that the percentage of high school graduates ready to read college-level material is at its lowest point in more than a decade. The study revealed that too many students are not reading complex texts in high school and suggested changes in high school reading standards and instruction that would leave fewer students behind. The recommendations mirror those made in similar studies of other academic areas—offer more courses and make them more challenging.