HARRISBURG – A new report outlining efforts to improve America’s high schools urges states to adopt stronger graduation requirements like those being discussed in Pennsylvania, Education Secretary Gerald L. Zahorchak said.
“The evidence continues to mount that Pennsylvania is moving in the right direction by pursuing statewide high school graduation requirements,” Zahorchak said. “If we set the bar high for every student, and give our schools the supports to help those who struggle, we can raise student achievement while building a world-class workforce.”
The report, “Accelerating the Agenda: Actions to Improve America’s High Schools,” supports more demanding high school coursework and stronger graduation requirements as tools for “restoring value to the high school diploma.” It was released today by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of Chief State School Officers, and the National Association of State Boards of Education.
Among the report’s findings:
· High schools too often gauge student performance against a “low-level eighth-grade standard … rather than college- and career-ready expectations.”
· U.S. students are leaving high school with “weaker skills than their counterparts of 20 years ago,” a trend that has negative repercussions in both the workplace and in college classrooms.
· Readiness for college and career is more important than ever before, given the competition for jobs and talent between the U.S. and other nations “has never been more intense.”
· Academic improvements in our high schools can boost economic growth and overhauling high schools is a “potent starting point” toward achieving that goal.
While Pennsylvania has statewide academic standards that define what students should know at particular grade levels, each of the state’s 501 school districts sets its own requirements for earning a diploma. This fractured system has resulted in drastically different levels of graduate preparedness from district to district, the secretary noted.
“Because Pennsylvania students can receive a high school diploma without meeting any consistent academic requirements, thousands of graduating high school seniors may not be ready for the challenges that lie beyond high school,” Zahorchak said. “We know, for example, that nearly 44 percent of Pennsylvania’s high school seniors received diplomas in 2007 after failing the state’s 11th grade level reading and math tests a year earlier. This is a troubling disparity that should concern every educator, parent, taxpayer and employer.”
Zahorchak said the report reinforces what many of Pennsylvania’s educators, employers and business leaders already know: a well-educated workforce is a critical building block for a solid economy.
“Ensuring our high school graduates earn diplomas that truly represent readiness enables us to build a world-class workforce in Pennsylvania, and that enables us to sustain and grow our economy and our communities,” the secretary said. “At its core, a quality education is a form of long-term economic stimulus for the commonwealth.”
The full report is available online. For more information on Pennsylvania’s education initiatives, visit the Department of Education Web site.