Gap Analysis Reveals New Challenges, Opportunities

Now, we have much better access—about 75 percent of all high school graduates enroll in postsecondary education within two years of graduation. And we have made great strides in elementary education. Most counselors, students, and parents are familiar with the idea of a core curriculum—four years of English, and three years each of math, science and social studies—even if many still do not enroll in the courses.

Today, we face new challenges. American students are losing ground in high school. Far too few of the students who enroll in college are ready for college-level course work. Far too few of the high school graduates who want to go into the workforce are ready for the jobs available. In short, too few students are ready to be successful.

“We’ve made virtually no progress in the last 20 years at getting our students ready for college or work,” said Cyndie Schmeiser, ACT’s senior vice president for research and development. “Not enough kids are taking the right number of courses, and we now know that even the right number of courses is not enough. The courses have to be of high quality. Even when students do take the right number of courses, it doesn’t guarantee they are going to be ready. They have to take courses of sufficient rigor.”

Schmeiser focused on ACT research released the week before the annual meeting. In a report entitled Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, ACT data show just 22 percent of the high school graduates in the class of 2004 are likely to earn a grade of C or better in introductory college English, algebra, and biology courses. Despite that low number, Schmeiser emphasized a hopeful message: These findings give educators and researchers a better idea of where to go next. We need to define rigor and focus on reforming American high schools so that all students take rigorous courses.

The executive director of the Education Trust, Kati Haycock, agreed.

One of the biggest issues today, she said, is “the very big mismatch” between what students and their parents want, and what teachers and counselors think students can do.

Everyone must understand three things, Haycock said:

• A college-ready standard is best for all students
• The single best predictor of success is the quality and intensity of a student’s high school curriculum
• Students of all ability levels grow more and fail less in college preparatory classes

“Every year, a significant number of kids start out behind, and we take these kids who come to us with less, and we give them less, too.” We give them less money for their schools, less time, less quality in the teachers assigned to them, Haycock said. "This gap that separates different groups of kids gets wider and wider and wider. But if we made different choices, if we actually gave them more of the things that make a difference, this achievement gap would go away. It’s a choice."

Haycock called on ACT to use its resources and tools to push high school reform efforts.

“ACT could be a very powerful partner in the effort to turn around American high schools,” Haycock said.

“I think we’re moving in the right direction,” said Riley in his turn at the podium. “It is so clear that rigor in high school coursework is important. Crisis at the Core . . . is the right way to go.”

The calls for action in our high schools did not come only from the educators at the meeting. Business representatives, too, are looking at what can be done better.

“We cannot become what we want to be if we remain what we are. We must take action,” said Dow Chemical’s Site Learning Leader Michael Gragg. The action we need is better training, in high school and in the workforce, he said.

“We need better skills. Better skills lead to better decisions. Better decisions lead to better results. Better results lead to a better future.”

That doesn’t mean every company has to create its own program. It means that every company has to work in partnership with local schools, training programs, and community leaders.

“All the work is done. All we have to do is partner,” said Gragg.

“What we’re seeing is the death of workforce training; it is merging with education,” said Roberts T. Jones, president of Education and Workforce Policy, LLC, in Virginia.

And that merger is changing the role of those in charge of employee training, as Patricia M. Crull, vice president and chief learning officer of Toys “R” Us, made clear.

“Good workplace learning leaders are not there in a support function,” she said. “For workplace learning to be effective, it cannot be an afterthought.” Rather, it must be highly relevant, interactive, and technology oriented, “a combination of high-touch and high-tech,” Crull said.

In recent years, Louisiana has become an example of many of the points annual meeting speakers made. The state has made great strides since 2001, when it implemented a master plan to address economic development on both the education and workforce fronts. Jimmy Clarke, the deputy commissioner for planning, research, and performance with the Louisiana Board of Regents, outlined some of the challenges facing his state:

• The average per-capita income is $16,000
• 44 percent of all high school students drop out
• The drop-out rate for African American students is twice that for Caucasian students
• The only workers moving to the state have less than a high school education
• The number of high school students is decreasing

Louisiana’s Board of Regents created the master plan and drew on the resources of the state departments of Education, Financial Aid, and Labor, as well as such educational researchers as ACT, the Education Trust, and the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education, among others.

Louisiana began administering ACT’s EPAS/Educational Planning and Assessment System^® statewide in 2001 as well. Besides results showing students doing better overall each year, EPAS provides data to steer the reform efforts.

“We’ve gone from a very data-poor state to a very data-rich state,” said Clarke, who is the first to admit that the progress is just the first leg of a long journey. He’s confident and optimistic, though, because Louisiana is making the reforms relevant to students and workers in the state, and the state is collecting the data it needs to be accountable. He said the people involved in the changes can now see what works. They are following three new rules: “It’s the new ‘3 R’s’: relevance, rigor, and relationships.”