posted 05-16-2001 15:23               

Rethinking the Mission of High Schools

Many educators today claim that American high schools don't prepare students for employment in jobs that pay competitive wages. Accordingly, some policy experts urge more rigorous high school academic standards; they maintain that students today require a high level of skills and knowledge, whether they plan to enter the workforce after graduation or pursue post-secondary education. Others disagree, arguing that rising college dropout rates indicate that some teenagers might be better served by apprenticeship or vocational programs.

Exacerbating this problem is a lack of alignment between secondary and higher education standards. High schools generally gear exit exams to 9th- and 10th-grade skill levels; meanwhile, college entrance exams, such as SATs or ACTs, focus on general knowledge not necessarily tied to high school curricula. Many students realize too late that they are unprepared to succeed in college; to catch up, they end up taking longer than four years to receive a bachelor's degree. Similarly, their peers who head straight for the workplace often find themselves unqualified for anything but low-paying entry-level positions.

Reformers advocate rethinking the mission of high schools so that kids--and employers--feel that secondary education is relevant to today's challenges. They suggest making schools smaller so staff members really get to know students; connecting school activities with the developmental realities of today's adolescents; and redesigning traditional schedules so that students have opportunities to learn outside the classroom--through workplace and volunteer experiences, college courses, travel, and so forth. Ideally, everyone wants to create a seamless educational system that prepares all students to meet higher academic and workforce standards.

Source: Debra Viadero, "Getting Serious About High School,"
Education Week, April 11, 2001