Closing the Gap Between High School and College

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Closing theGap betweenHigh Schooland College

There is widespread concern in the education community regarding retention and graduation rates in the United States

It’s not hard to see why: three out o every ten public high school students will not graduate. In other words, 1.3 million

students drop out each year and 7,200 students leave America’s secondary education system every school day. U.S. hig

school graduation rates declined to just 68.8% or the class o 2007 (Diploma’s Count 2010).

The dropout rate continues to be bleak in higher education as well. O the students who enter college, nearly a third dro

out ater their rst year and 50% never graduate. And many students who go on to higher education are not ready – a

community colleges, nearly a million students take remedial courses (mostly in English and math) each year at a cos

o approximately $1.4 billion a year (Supiano 2006). Moreover, studies clearly indicate that remedial students are mos

likely to dropout (Bowler 2009).



2

The demographic prole o dropouts is also disturb-

ing. Graduation rates or both males and minorities are

signicantly lower than the national average o 68.8%.

Graduation rates or males average 66%, while gradua-

tion rates or minorities, both male and emale, are even

lower: 55.5% or Latinos, 53.7% or Arican-Americans and

50.7% or Native Americans. Graduation rates or minority

males are the weakest: 50.6% or Latino males, 46.7% or

Arican-American males, and 46.4% or Native American

males (Diploma’s Count 2010).

These dropout rates are especially troublesome when

considering the numerous benets o an education in our

rapidly changing global economy. Individuals possessing

higher degrees earn higher incomes resulting in higher

tax revenue and stronger economic activity. An educated

population makes ewer demands on social services andresults in ewer expenses or ederal and state govern-

ments (The Educational Pipeline: Big Investment, Big

Returns 2004).

Class of 2007

80.7 Asian

76.6 White

68.8 All students

55.5 Hispanic53.7 Black50.7 American Indian

Figure 1: This Graph shows The declininG averaGe GraduaTion raTe from 1990 To 2007 (diplomas counT 2010, p.23).

1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Three out o every ten public

high school

students will

not graduate.





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1 MisalignmentofRequirements

The primary reason interviewees gave to explain the

gap between high school and college is the disparity

between high school exit requirements and college

entry expectations. Only 25 states implemented high

school exit exams or the Class o 2010 (DiplomasCount 2010). Even in states with exams, most exit

requirements do not meet knowledge requirements

or college-level courses. Nationally, only 22% o high

school graduates meet or surpass ACT’s College Readi-

ness Benchmarks in English, math, reading and science

(ACT Press Release 2008). “In Caliornia, the high

school exit exams are based on a seventh-tenth grade

level—obviously much lower than what we require or

entry into college-level course work in the community

college system. This poses a huge issue or us in that

the students just aren’t prepared,” shares Linda Micha-

lowski, Vice Chancellor o Student Services, Caliornia

Community Colleges. “In the state o New York, even

though nearly 72% o students graduate rom high

school in our years, only 61% o all students and just

40% Arican-American and Hispanic students gradu-

ate with a Regents diploma, an important indicator

o college readiness,” shares Johanna Duncan-Poitier,

Chancellor’s Deputy or the Education Pipeline and

Vice Chancellor or Community Colleges at SUNY.

Given the pressure high schools ace to ensure stu-

dent success on standardized tests, they oten ocus

eorts on students passing the test. As a result, stu-

dents oten remain unprepared or college-level core

subjects, and lack supplemental skills, like technology

and critical thinking, required or success in college and

the workorce. For higher education institutions, this

means signicant dollars and time or remediation. The

disconnect between high school and higher education is

urther exacerbated in poor and rural communities that

either cannot aord or attract teachers to teach morerigorous courses. “Over hal o all students coming into

our community colleges require some level o remedia-

tion,” explains Duncan-Poitier. “64% o those requiring

no remediation will persist into their second year, but

that number drops to only 50% i they require three or

more remedial courses.”

2 DiverseEducationPathsThe second issue interviewees identied to explain

the gap is the need to understand and support the

modern student. Modern students come to class with

high expectations o their educators and ace many

demands beyond the school setting. Because o thediversity in students’ backgrounds and extracurricular

demands, at-risk students are now categorized in

several areas:

Advancedstudentswhoarenotbeingchallenged

Studentswholackadrivingforcetopushthem

intocollege(likeparents)ordon’tseetheneedor

relevanceofhighereducation

Traditionallyunderrepresentedstudentgroups1

whodon’tseecollegeasanoption

Studentswhowanttogotocollegebutlacktheappropriatepreparation

Studentswhowanttogotocollegebuthavesome

othereventdelayingtheirattendance

Historically, the traditional student progressed through

the education system in a linear ashion with one entry

and exit. However, today’s education system is oten

marked by many exit and entry points. Students may

leave to join the military ater high school or tend to ail-

ing amily members or new babies. Many others already

have higher education degrees, but need additional

education to maintain or grow their careers.

“Looking at the educational pipeline in a linear way

causes us to miss 40% o the student population,” says

Bill Flores, President o the University o Houston Down-

town. “85-90% o our students work over 30 hours a

week and 75% are parents. We cannot just look at those

coming out o high school. We have to look at other

student pools – those who haven’t yet gotten their GED,

those who have their GED but nothing else, and thosewith some college credit but no degree. Then we need

to identiy ways to welcome them back into the educa-

tion system and support their specic needs.”

1. Traditionally underrepresented students include members o racial and ethnic minorities, low-income students, and rst timecollege attendees. In addition, they may also include lower and middle-achieving students who might not be college-bound.

THE GAP BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE: CHALLENGES



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3 Lackof21stCenturySkillsFor students to succeed in college and the workplace, they need to

master 21st century skills like the ability to apply knowledge o core

subjects like math, language, arts, science and history to contem-

porary themes o global awareness, nance, health and alternative

energy. Successul post-secondary students and employees regularlyuse skills like critical thinking and problem solving, creativity, innova-

tion, initiative and sel-direction, leadership, adaptability, and digital

media capabilities (Fadel and Trilling 2009 p. 1). But there is a signi-

cant disconnect between skills being taught in high school and skills

necessary or success in college and career, and American students

lag behind their counterparts overseas. Eorts like the Partnership or

21st Century Skills (P21), a national organization that advocates or 21st

century readiness or every student, provide tools and resources to

help the U.S. education system keep up by using 21st century skills

with the traditional three Rs – reading, writing and arithmetic. Still, a loto work remains to be done to successully prepare all students to ace

rigorous higher education coursework, career challenges and a globally

competitive workorce. The disconnect between skills being taught and

skills needed is highlighted in the ollowing chart, which is an excerpt

rom The Global Achievement Gap: Why Even Our Best Schools Don’t

Teach The New Survival Skills Our Children Need – And What We Can

Do About It by Tony Wagner (New York: Basic Books, 2008).

THREE KEY

CHALLENGESTO CLOSING

THE GAP

1 Misalignment ofRequirements

2 DiverseEducation Paths

3 Lack of 21stCentury Skills

Getting the right answer & performingwell on multiple choice test

Working alone

Learning within academic disciplines

Memorizing fixed information

Complying with hierarchal authority

and avoiding risks

Adhering to external and inflexibletime segments

Sitting passively in a linear, text-basedenvironment

Figuring out the right questions & usingskills to solve new problems

Working in teams

Learning how to find, communicate & applyinformation in a ubiquitous environment

Initiative and leadership in “flat”organizations & taking responsible risks

Managing time and commitments —prioritizing and flexible time segments

Interacting in a multimedia, graphics-based

environment

Working with left and right sides of thebrain together

Schooling Today Requires and Rewards 21st Century Requires and Rewards



6

THE GAP BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL ANDCOLLEGE: IMPACT

Low graduation rates create a number o problems in the United

States, but perhaps rst among them is the inability or students

to attain the jobs they want because they do not have the re-

quired skills. This lack o opportunity equates to an inability toaord basic living expenses and a lower quality o lie.

Highereducationinstitutions,especiallycommunitycolleges,

havetodealwiththeexpensiveandtimeconsumingprocess

ofremediation,whichisestimatedtocostcommunity

collegesabout$1.4billioneachyear(Supiano2006).

Nationally,42%ofcommunitycollegefreshmenand20%

offreshmeninfour-yearinstitutionsenrollinatleastone

remedialcourse(TheConditionofEducation2004).Inmany

states,remediationratesareevenhigher.“Approximately

80%ofstudentsenteringtheCaliforniaCommunityColleges

needsomeremediation–creatingahugeburdenforthestate,especiallywith2.9millionstudentsinoursystem,”

sharesBarryRussell,ViceChancellorofAcademicAffairsfor

theCaliforniaCommunityCollegesChancellor’sOfce.

TheUnitedStatesloses$3.7billionayearbecausestudents

donotlearnthebasicskillsneededtosucceedincollege

andcareers(PayingDouble2006).

U.S.studentsrank25thoutof30OECDcountriesin

mathematics(PISA20002006)–hinderingAmerican

competitivenessintheglobaleconomy.

The United

States loses

$3.7 billion a

year because

students do not

learn the basic

skills needed

to succeed in

college and careers (Paying

Double 2006).




THE GAP BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL ANDCOLLEGE: STRATEGIES

While this picture o education in the United States looks bleak,

there are many initiatives under way with potential to improve

the situation. The ollowing section highlights six strategies (in

the order o importance) as assessed by those interviewed:

1 ExposingHighSchoolStudentstotheCollegeExperience

2 IncorporatingTechnologyintotheLearningProcess

3 PrioritizingTeacherTraining

4 RedesigningtheHighSchoolExperience

5 InitiatingTargetedInterventions

6 AdoptingNationalStandards

1 ExposingHighSchoolStudentstothe

CollegeExperienceNineteen o the interviewees named accelerated learning as one o

the top methods o encouraging high school students to matriculate

into college. Accelerated learning can take on several orms includ-

ing Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), dual

or concurrent enrollment, and early college.

AdvancedPlacement(AP) – A cooperative educational endeav-

or between secondary schools and colleges and universities

that enables high school students to take college-level courses

and national examinations developed by the College Board in a

high school setting. I a student achieves a minimum score onthese examinations (oten a three or above), he or she may be

awarded college credit, depending on the requirements o the

postsecondary institution (Accelerated Learning Options 2006).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IB) – A

comprehensive two-year international pre-university course o

study that leads to examinations and an IB diploma. IB requires

courses that cover languages, social studies, the experimental

sciences and mathematics in order to prepare its students,

normally aged 16 to 19, or success in university and beyond

(Diploma Programme at a Glance n.d.).

Nineteen o the

interviewees

named

accelerated

learning as

one o the top

methods o

encouraging hig

school studentsto matriculate

into college.



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DualEnrollment – Dual enrollment programs enable high school students to

take college courses that generally count toward both their high school diploma

and college degree. They oer, administer and teach courses in partnership

with a higher education institution. Students can take the course on their high

school campus, travel to a local college or take the course online (depending

on the arrangement with the postsecondary provider). Attainment o college

credit is based upon student perormance.

EarlyCollege – Early colleges are schools where students graduate with

a high school diploma in addition to an associate’s degree or the two-year

college credit equivalent. Early colleges are oten physically located on, o

adjacent to, a college campus. Some early colleges in more rural areas use

online courses or their curriculum.

Outreachprogramsthatincreasecollegeexposure– There are many othe

eorts that might not be as extensive as those listed above, but have great

impact. For example, Baltimore County Public Schools oer the College

Pathways Program whereby 30 tenth-graders in the middle bracket o thei

class are brought to the local community college campus or a day. “Student

take a campus tour, engage in discussions on how college works, includingcollege scheduling, and ask any questions they want. It really demysties col

lege,” states Ms. Sonja Karwacki, Executive Director o Special Programs o

Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS).

The University o Houston Downtown (UHD) oers many outreach programs

to educate local community members about college. Many o their students are

rst-generation college-goers so UHD developed sessions to educate parents

on how to best support their children as they prepare or college. UHD also

oers mentorship and scholarships to at-risk students who maintain a GPA o

2.5 and above and stay in the top hal o their class, as well as brings promising

middle and high school students to the campus during the summer. It alsoassists mothers in homeless shelters with literacy skills and encourages them

to obtain their GEDs. “In order to be successul, you have to work – not just

with the students, not just with the teachers, but with the whole community,”

explains UHD’s Flores.

Accelerated learning options benet students and providers by:

Offeringthestudentgreatereducationalchallengeswhileinhighschoolthat

mightnotbeavailableotherwise

Exposingstudentstothecollegeexperience,whichcanexcitestudents

aboutthepossibilitiesofhighereducationwhileminimizingfearsofcollege

Provingtostudentsandcollegeadmissionsofcersthatabroadrangeofstudentscanbesuccessfulincollege-levelcourses

Reducingthenancialburdenofacollegeeducationwithno-costor

signicantlydiscountedoptionstoearncollegecredit

Reducingrecruitmentcostsforcollegesbecausestudentswhotake

apostsecondaryprovider’scoursesinhighschoolhaveanincreased

likelinesstoattendthesameinstitutionforcollege

Students take a

campus tour, engage

in discussions on how

college works, including

college scheduling,

and ask any questions

they want. It really

demysties college.

Sonja M. Karwacki,

Executive Director,Special Programs,

Pre-K-12, BaltimoreCounty Public Schools




Current research underscores the success o these programs.

The National Center or Educational Accountability ound that an

AP Exam score o 3 (the grade required to attain college credit)

or higher is a strong predictor o a student’s ability to persist in

college and earn a bachelor’s degree (Dougherty, Mellor and Jian

2006). Furthermore, Boston College researchers ound that AP

students who scored a 1 or 2—a score oten too low or college

credit—developed stronger content mastery o advanced math

and physics than U.S. students who had not taken AP courses

(Gonzalez, O’Connor and Miles 2001).

The Community College Research Center also completed an

in-depth study comparing dual enrollment students to their non-

dual enrollment peers in the state o Florida. The study ound dual

enrollment students:

Are4.3%morelikelytoearntheirhighschooldiploma

Are7.7%morelikelytoenrollinafour-yearinstitution

Are4.5%morelikelytopersisttoasecondsemester

Are5.4%morelikelytobeenrolledtwoyearsafter

graduatinghighschool

Achieve.21pointshigherGPAthantheirpeers

Earn15.1morecreditswithinthreeyearsofgraduatinghigh

school(Karp,Calcagno,Hughes,JeongandBailey2008)

Still, additional research is needed to conrm these results. There

is conficting research, which suggests that “AP courses do not

substantially contribute to student success in college,” says Philip

M. Sadler, Director o Science Education at the Harvard University-

Smithsonian Center or Astrophysics and a Senior Lecturer in

Astronomy at Harvard (Jaschik 2006). The College Board disputes

Sadler’s conclusion. Additionally, some dual enrollment research

ocused on career and technical education had varying student

demographics, which might suggest a selection bias.

2 IncorporatingTechnologyintotheLearningProcess

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA),

the International Society or Technology in Education (ISTE), and

the Partnership or 21st Century Skills recently stated that “creating

a 21st century education system requires broad and intensive use otechnology and a strong technology inrastructure. Schools cannot

prepare students to participate in a global economy without mak-

ing intensive use o technology. In a digital world, no organization

can achieve results without incorporating technology into every

aspect o its everyday practices. It’s time or schools to maximize

the impact o technology as well (Maximizing the Impact p. 3).”

Schools cannot

prepare students to

participate in a globeconomy without

making intensive use

o technology.






Building large-scale data systems presents challenges by orcing

stakeholders who are accustomed to working independently to team

together. Stakeholders include departments o education, school dis-

tricts, community colleges, and public and private higher education

institutions. States like Florida, Texas and Kentucky have proven to be

leaders in this area.

In Kentucky, education leaders put their individual approaches aside

and banded together to implement a longitudinal data system. “We

in Kentucky share the vision o making our education system better,”

states Terry Holliday, Kentucky’s Commissioner o Education. “To

do this, you have to quit ocusing on the interests o the adults—

lawmakers, administrators, etc.—and start ocusing on the interests

o the kids and outcomes.” Al Lind, Vice President, Inormation and

Technology or Kentucky’s Council on Postsecondary Education,

adds, “Our P-20 data warehouse will track students rom preschool

to college to graduate school and into the work orce. We received

$2.9 million rom the Department o Education to connect all stu-

dent inormation systems—public schools, community colleges,

public and private higher education institutions and the teacher pro-

essional standards board—in order to be able to accurately assess

educational requirements.”

New York is also moving toward a state-wide data system. “New York

does not have a state-wide P-20 longitudinal system yet, however we

have made a commitment to such a system and just received a $20

million grant or implementation,” states Duncan-Poitier. “While this

comprehensive system is under development, we are requiring that

every new program we implement has built-in data indicators so that

in the short-term we can track the success o that individual program,

and in the long-term, we can tie that data into the state-wide system.”

TeachingandLearningTechnologies

Technology has become a way o lie, permeating all aspects o work,

social interaction and, to a certain extent, higher education, but it has

yet to pervade primary and secondary education. Not only is tech-

nology not widely used in K-12 education, it is oten prohibited by

some popular “leave it at the door” policies. In turn, it’s not surprising

that all 24 interviewees stressed the eective use o technology as

an integral component in ensuring a smooth transition between high

school and higher education. Two primary means to achieve this goal,

according to the interviewees, are the introduction o technology to

enhance the classroom, as well as the existence o electronic content

repositories to help teachers nd, share and collaborate on quality

materials. These eorts can be done on an individual school level or

through virtual high schools and consortia initiatives.

TOP SIX STRATEGIES

FOR CLOSING THE GA

1 Exposing High SchooStudents to theCollege Experience

2 IncorporatingTechnology into theLearning Process

3 Prioritizing TeacherTraining

4 Redesigning the HighSchool Experience

5 Initiating TargetedInterventions

6 Adopting NationalStandards



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Having already

exposed our students to

e-Learning technologies

provides students with

a higher comort level

when starting college.

Cheryl Charlton,

Chie Operating Ofcer,

Idaho Digital Learning Academy

Cheryl Charlton, Chie Operating Ocer o the Idaho Digital

Learning Academy, shares that she oten hears rom graduates

attesting to the benets o integrating e-Learning technologies

with their high school courses and how it helped ease their transi-

tion into college. “Colleges in Idaho all use e-Learning systems to

enhance their courses and they expect their students to use the

system starting day one to access course materials, assignments

and sometimes even tests,” she says. “Having already exposed

our students to e-Learning technologies provides students with a

higher comort level when starting college.”

Incorporating technology into an eective learning environment

requires hard work and planning. In order to reduce the burden

on teachers to create electronic content, many individual schools,

consortia, and states create content repositories where electronic

materials can be posted, shared and collaboratively developed.

Kentucky, or example, recently launched their K-20 learning

repository. “The repository provides one place where everyone

throughout the state can create and store course content taggedwith the common core state standards,” explains Al Lind, Vice

President, Inormation and Technology, or Kentucky’s Council on

Postsecondary Education. “Teachers can browse, search, upload,

download, update, rate, and reuse animations, learning objects,

textbooks and other quality learning content directly into their

courses. We then took it one step urther by ederating the system

with North Carolina, Georgia and Florida so we are able to share

content in a single search.”

Two other solutions that expose students to in-classroom tech-

nology while minimizing the burden on individual school districtsare virtual high school oerings and consortia. Florida Virtual

School and North Carolina Virtual Public School (NCVPS) are two

examples o strong, successul virtual schools in the U.S. Though

there are many reasons people take virtual courses in high school,

one o the more popular reasons is their ability to provide stu-

dents with rst-hand experience o the demands o virtual learn-

ing. “Florida Virtual School is able to provide students with access

to advanced classes, teachers, and technology that many o our

school districts cannot oer directly. This helps prepare them or

the rigor and expectations o college,” explains Beth Miller, Man-

ager o University Partnerships at Florida Virtual School.




Other educational institutions have ound consortia to be

a good way o enhancing e-Learning within their schools

and capitalizing on idea sharing amongst a broader group.

In order to meet its mission o serving the community,

the University o Cincinnati (UC) ostered a relationship

with six Catholic high schools. UC hosts the e-Learning

technology, conducts proessional development or the

member institutions and acilitates collaboration and best

practice sharing amongst the group. The real push or

this arrangement came rom the Cincinnati Archdiocese

who saw the value o oering e-Learning technology to

students, but knew they didn’t have the resources to do it

on their own. “We all get together once a month to discuss

issues, collaborate on content, and share best practices.

This consortium has been working so well that we are now

up to 14 member institutions spanning high schools, com-

munity colleges and state universities,” states Paul Foster,

Assistant Director o Instructional and Research Comput-

ing at UCit, University o Cincinnati.

3 PrioritizingTeacherTrainingThe third most common strategy that interviewees identi-

ed to ease the transition between high school and higher

education is providing teachers with the tools and support to

actively participate in preparing students or college success.

The University o Houston Downtown has an extensive

urban education program to prepare its teachers or the

diiculties aced in urban schools. The SUNY system,

comprised o 64 campuses, is now adding a similar

urban education program. Programs like these, oered

as a bachelor’s or master’s degree, are geared toward

stronger practice-based teacher education in order to

produce eective teachers or urban and rural areas.

“The SUNY system prepares over 5,000 teachers each

year which equates to 25% o the teaching workorce in

New York,” says Duncan-Poitier. “Given how many teach-

ers we educate, we eel obligated to make sure that they

are the best prepared, and given the expected number

o teachers that will be cut rom the NY budget, we wantto be in a position to provide the highest quality proes-

sional development or teachers already in our schools.”

Every institution interviewed provides proessional devel-

opment, but the most successul have an overarching vi-

sion with a clearly articulated plan containing measurable

goals that drive proessional development programming.

In order to meet its

mission o serving

the community,the University

o Cincinnati

(UC) ostered a

relationship with

six Catholic high

schools. UC hosts

the e-Learningtechnology, conducts

proessional

development or the

member institutions

and acilitates

collaboration and

best practice sharing

amongst the group.



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There were several unique proessional development eorts discussed:

• Partnering to improve the high school curriculum. The Caliornia

Community Colleges teamed with Caliornia high school teachers

to jointly review the high school curriculum rom a perspective o

college-readiness.

• Ensuringfacultyareintouchwiththestudentexperience. The Calior-

nia Community Colleges created a Faculty Inquiry Network. “The Fac-ulty Inquiry Network puts research in the hands o aculty as to how

students are doing. We take a lot o videos o students asking them

what they are experiencing, what is hard or them, etc. and then ollow

them throughout a ew semesters to see how they develop. This helps

aculty understand more clearly how students perceive their experience

and helps the aculty judge the eectiveness o their techniques,” shares

Barry Russell.

• Externships for faculty. Baltimore County Public Schools partnered

with corporations to oer their teachers an opportunity or a summer

externship which enables teachers to bring back real-world experiences

to the classroom.

Although those interviewed pointed specically to teacher proessional

development as a means o closing the gap between high school and col-

lege, the larger issue o overall teacher quality remains critically important.

Teacher quality is infuenced by proessional development, but also by

actors such as years o experience, teacher compensation, licensing, and

degrees (Rarick et al. May 2007).

4 RedesigningtheHighSchoolExperienceAccording to Christopher Dede, a proessor at the Harvard Graduate

School o Education, “Students are better engaged and learn more deeply

when they are taught in the context and environment where that learning

normally occurs, such as solving a real-world problem.” To this eect, there

are many eorts to reevaluate how high school teachers can provide a

more organic experience or students. The result is a number o eorts

– varying rom a redesign o a traditional high school curriculum to the

creation o charter and cyber schools.

Five years ago, the Baltimore County Public School System was acing a

tough situation with Chesapeake High School, located in one o the county’s

poorest areas. Students weren’t attending class and were dropping out at

high rates so the county decided to try a dierent approach. They partneredwith Lockheed Martin, Johns Hopkins University and the gaming industry

to create an environment that used gaming accompanied by traditional

lessons to engage students. “Five years ago the school was ailing,” states

Sonja Karwacki, Executive Director o Special Programs or the Baltimore

County Public Schools. “Now, students are embedded in a virtual world. At-

tendance has improved, AYP (adequate yearly progress) has increased, and

we have tripled the number o magnet students attending the high school.”

PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT

EFFECTIVE

PRACTICES

College-K-12partnerships toimprove the highschool curriculum

Ensuring facultyare in touchwith the studentexperience

Externshipsfor faculty




5 InitiatingTargetedInterventionsSeveral interviewees cited the short-term value o assessing the

college-readiness o high school students while there is still time to

intervene with the long-term goal o a cumulative process that starts

with early learning. For example, Caliornia augmented its eleventh-

grade standardized test with 15 questions in English and math and

an essay-writing component to determine the students’ college-readiness in these subjects. Students take the test in the spring o

their junior year and the results demonstrate college-readiness. “The

augmented Caliornia standards test, or Early Assessment Program

(EAP), is a great way or students to know whether or not they

are ready or college prior to graduating high school,” states Linda

Michalowski. “I they aren’t ready, there are resources available to

help them get up to speed including the Caliornia State University’s

(CSU) Expository Reading and Writing Curriculum, online ALEKS

math modules, and other interventions being piloted between com-

munity colleges, CSU, and high schools. The goal is to assist students

who are not demonstrating readiness on the EAP to strengthen theirskills prior to their high school graduation and entry into college.”

The Superintendent o Baltimore County Public Schools pays or all

ninth- and tenth-graders to take the PSAT as a means o assessing

their readiness or college-level courses. Students with high scores

are then encouraged to take challenging AP and honors courses.

In Kentucky, the state pays or all students to take the ACT to test or

college readiness. I they score well, they are also encouraged to take

advanced courses like AP, honors, and dual enrollment. I they don’t,

the state works to identiy areas o weakness and strengthen skills in

these areas prior to graduation.

6 AdoptingNationalStandardsThe majority o interviewees believe that national education stan-

dards would benet students and educators alike. As noted earlier,

there are signicant discrepancies between state graduation require-

ments, and they consistently all below college entry-level require-

ments. Moreover, only 25 states currently administer high school exit

exams, which suggests that the remaining 25 experience discrepan-

cies within the state.

States need to agree on educational standards or graduation rom

each grade, and ensure these standards are in alignment with the

entry requirements or higher education. Fortunately, there are

promising projects underway, including the American Diploma Proj-

ect (ADP) Network and the Common Core State Standards initiative.

The augmented Caliorni

standards test, or Early

Assessment Program, is

a great way or students

to know whether or not

they are ready or colleg

prior to graduating

high school.

Linda Michalowski,

Vice Chancellor or StudentServices, Caliornia Community

Colleges Chancellor’s Ofce



16

LeadershipwithaK-20Vision

All 24 interviewees agreed that strong leadership with

a clearly articulated vision or 21st century learning isa primary component to successully implementing a

solution. These visionaries go beyond the traditional

methods to educate students and teachers.

“Legislative decisions are one o the astest ways o

impacting the greatest amount o change,” states

Dr. Bryan Setser, Chie Executive ocer, North Caro-

lina Virtual Public School. “North Carolina, through

legislative support, was able to create a portolio o

ocused, research-based options in the e-Learning

space in a short amount o time. This provides op-

tions or students and educators, and helps those

across the state make smart choices around tech-

nology inrastructure, curriculum, assessment, and

proessional development.”

Although legislation is one o the most impactul

ways o inducing change, it’s not the only way. There

are many leaders at institutions clearly articulating

their vision and making it a reality. SUNY Chancellor

Nancy Zimpher and her team, or example, created

the ”Power o SUNY,” a strategic plan that outlines

the system’s top six initiatives including a “Seamless

Educational Pipeline.” It calls or SUNY to partner with

other educational institutions throughout the state to

strengthen the education pipeline rom birth through

retirement and close the gaps that can impede suc-

cess. The Chancellor also created the executive cabi-

net level leadership position o Chancellor’s Deputy

or the Education Pipeline—a unique position in higher

education—to develop and lead these eorts.

EquitabilityandAccessibility

Non-white and lower income students who reside

in rural and poorer communities are at the greatestdisadvantage. These students oten do not have

access to more advanced courses or easy access

to college campuses. To improve graduation rates,

a high-quality education must be accessible to all

students regardless o geography and demography.

Bill Fritz, Director o Technology or Sycamore Com-

munity Schools explains, “Ohio has 612 districts – some

with as ew as 600 students, and some with as many

as 10,000 students. The smaller schools struggle with

nding the people, technical expertise, and money

to aord educational solutions like those in the more

afuent and larger districts.”

As noted earlier, graduation rates or minorities all

well below the national graduation rate, yet some o

these groups have the largest growing populations.

“We will have a skilled labor shortage o more than

25 million workers by 2030, but we have a massive

decline in college-age students, states UHD’s Flores.

“The largest growth in the college-age population is

Hispanics. We have to meet their needs.”

Short-andLong-TermSuccessMetrics

Changing the education system is clearly a dicult task

and making a signicant impact will take time. In order

to ensure all parties remain ocused and optimistic, it is

important to implement success measurements, both

short-term and long-term, to showcase progress.

“When you are growing so quickly, you have to make

sure you have a ramework with policies, procedures

and success metrics so you stay on the right path and

keep those involved motivated,” states Cheryl Charlton.

THE GAP BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE: SUCCESS FACTORS




ScalabilityandReplicability

Programs must be scalable and replicable to result in large-scale im-

provements to the education system. Interviewees shared these eective

practices that can help educators meet the needs o diverse learners:

Document the strategy, people involved, processes, and lessons

learned. This is one o the primary ocuses o Baltimore County

Public Schools, which seeks to share lessons learned with the rest

o the state.

Use technology to encourage replication and collaboration. By

creating systems where content can be reused, such as the use o

open educational resources and other online tools and databases,

educators can capitalize on work done by their peers.

Identify the top three components critical to the success of astrategy. Cheryl Lemke, President and Chie Executive Ocer o the

Metiri Group, suggests identiying the three core components o a

successul strategy, and requiring that these components become

part o the solution. Smaller-scale decisions can then be let to the

group that’s implementing the strategy. This process provides educa-

tors leeway to customize the solution to their particular needs without

diminishing the strength o the solution.

Sustainability

“People get grants to do great things and then the grant money runs

out and that great thing is over. This happens all the time and we cannot

aord or it to happen now,” explains Flores. “Start-up unding is oten

needed to get projects o the ground. But a critical component to keep-

ing projects afoat is building a plan or sustaining the model beyond

the initial unding, as well as seeking alternative unding sources in case

there are unexpected decreases like the recent budget cuts.”

SCALABILITY ANDREPLICABILITY

EFFECTIVE

PRACTICES

Document thestrategy, peopleinvolved, processesand lessons learned

Use technologyto encouragereplication andcollaboration

Identify the topthree componentscritical to the successof a strategy



18

THE GAP BETWEEN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE:CONCLUSION

The demand or highly skilled workers continues to increase, but the percentage o

students graduating with a college degree is decreasing. One o the largest gaps in

the educational pipeline is between high school and higher education: only 18% o

ninth-graders will graduate with a postsecondary degree.

Though this statistic is discouraging, educators are working to rethink the system. In

this report, 24 experts and leaders identied several successul strategies — including

exposing high school students to the college experience; incorporating technology

into the learning process; prioritizing teacher training; redesigning the high school

experience; initiating targeted interventions; and adopting national standards — to

smooth students’ transition to higher education. By implementing these strategies in

a way that is sustainable, scalable, replicable, measurable, equitable and accessible,

leaders with a K-20 vision can help close the gap between high school and college –

and return America to the top o the class.

AbouttheBlackboardInstituteThe Blackboard Institute draws rom Blackboard’s global community to surace

and share actionable, practice-driven guidance on how education institutions are

leveraging technology to build better education experiences.

Formoreinformationoneffectivepracticesthatimprovestudentprogression,please

visitwww.blackboardinstitute.com.




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Closing the Gap Between High School and College

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