The myth of a high school education
Recently the State Department of Education released results of the 2010 California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE) with a complementary announcement of the narrowing of the achievement gap. Hispanic and African American students have apparently made some progress decreasing the gap in passing rate with White and Asian American students. Any data point that results in narrowing of an achievement gap that has become a persistent outcome of the education system is cause for some celebration.
Except in this instance it means very little.
The CAHSEE is not the data point we should be focusing on as the key metric to measure student performance. At best, the CAHSEE establishes a “floor,” a minimum of what students should achieve by the time they exit high school. But at worst, the CAHSEE creates a false expectation that graduating from high school having passed the exit exam has somehow prepared students for college-level work.
If we really want to measure how successful students are upon exiting high school, the focus ought to be on the successful completion of the University of California/California State University high school course requirements called “A-G.” The A-G requirements are a specific number and sequence of courses that students must complete to simply be eligible to apply to one of the UC or CSU campuses (see the summary of A-G elsewhere in TOP-ED). But not all students complete the A-G requirements, as it is not a requirement of all high schools that students complete the A-G courses. Some districts, like San José Unified, require students to complete the A-G coursework in order to graduate from high school.
Yes, there are challenges in making A-G the required course curriculum. For starters, safety-net programs such as summer school and after-school programs, which would provide students additional help in meeting a more challenging curriculum, are needed. The California education funding system is broken, and districts are struggling to provide just basic programs.
However, there is no reason why the A-G curriculum should not be the “default” coursework in California schools, with students having an “opt out” option. When the A-G coursework is the default curriculum, students must be placed in A-G courses starting at grade 9. Having A-G as the default curriculum ensures that students are placed in A-G classes and are not inadvertently placed in a non-A-G class. If the course proves too difficult, the student and parents can request a schedule change. But the burden would not be on the student and family to figure out the sometimes confusing A-G coursework. Many families do not understand the system well enough to navigate through the various course requirements that serve as the “ticket” to a four-year college. Even if a student is planning to attend community college, completing the A-G coursework provides a sense of assurance of college readiness far beyond what the California High School Exit Exam or a high school diploma provides.
It is not that state officials are deliberately promulgating the false expectation that graduating from high school implies college readiness. Far from it. But I suspect that many, if not most, parents and the larger community have a sense that a high school diploma does indeed certify that students are ready for college.
But the state of California makes no such promise. According to the Closing the Expectations Gap report by the American Diploma Project, California’s minimum high school requirements were lower or projected to be lower than that of 33 other states by 2009. The 2009 McKinsey report on the achievement gap points out that students in the United States score worse in international comparisons the longer they are in school, with high school students demonstrating the widest gap.
It is time to raise the high school standards and expect all high schools to insert the A-G coursework as the default high school curriculum. We ought not to allow one single student to miss out on a college opportunity because of the randomness of course requirements across districts.
Manny Barbara, former Superintendent of the Oak Grove School District, is VP of Advocacy and Thought Leadership for SVEF. He has been selected four times as Administrator of the Year by the Association of California School Administrators, and as Educator of the Year in 2008 by 100 Black Men of Santa Clara County. During his 10 years as superintendent, performance increased for all district student subgroups, including the number of students successfully completing algebra and geometry by the end of 8th grade.
Mr. Barbara is working under the premise that the only way to succeed in life is by getting a 4-year (or higher) degree. I don’t buy his premise. Some jobs do take professional degrees, but that vast majority do not.
Please take a look at the other posting “Foundations urge adopting A-G” and read some of the comments to that posting … there is much more to this issue than meets the eye of elitists who think their path to success is the only way to win (see Dr. Ken Gray’s book Other Ways to Win for a complete rebuttal of such a narrow worldview).
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity
Fred Jones I agree with you. MOST, overwhemingly most citizens do jobs that neither require a college degree or are in any way aided by having one. Most citizens dont want to go to college and our economy and individual lives are dependent on preparing people for ALL jobs not just elitist college degree jobs. We need to focus on the majority of our citizens’ educational/ecomonic needs which is getting a job and most jobs are not college jobs. CTE is the solution – now if we could just get public schools to offer it so people dont have to get literally ripped off by private for-profit CTE colleges. People have no choice but to go to these for-profit ripoff schools because they cant get CTE at public schools. And public schools dont offer them because of a refusal by the PHD elite to force everyone to either get a college degree or NOTHING. Support real education for real jobs for real people; support CTE.
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity
Advocating an academic curriculum that does not meet the A-G requirements is no guarantee that CA puts appropriate funding into CTE. So what’s wrong with making A-G the default academic curriculum?
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity
A-G is even the wrong measure. Students can graduate with all of their A-G requirements hardly having learned anything. The UC does a pass on a syllabus provided by a school district to grant a course as A-G compliant, but no one monitors the quality of the instruction after that. The CAHSEE is certainly not the answer or the CST. The ACT may be a better indicator as it assesses both content knowledge and skills in preparation for college. Many states have already adopted to the ACT as their high school student assessment. Doesn’t that make sense? An assessment we want our students to take anyway and that is highly valued by the colleges we want them to apply to. What colleges ask a student what their CST scores are?
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity
While many jobs nowadays may not require a full 4 year education, it is currently exceedingly difficult for someone with only a high school degree or less to find a job that will allow for a decent standard of living. And, in the context of a global village, other countries such as China and India are making enormous and very conscientious investments in the education of their young people including unprecedented forward movement in higher education. Holding American students to the standards that have been in place will not maintain the global status Americans are used to. American students must be educated at higher levels and all the talent in our country must be tapped in order for our country to progress.
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity
Our country’s economic and future geo-political security require a highly skilled workforce. This requires academic preparation with robust and relevant vocational education courses in grades 7-12. Not everybody is going to college. UC’s A-G coursework is not a relevant set of curriculum to the majority of our high school students’ needs.
See CNN’s report from yesterday:
Industry experts: Less ‘made in USA’ puts security at risk
From Jennifer Rizzo, CNN National Security Producer
September 21, 2010 7:36 p.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/09/22/manufacturing.security/index.html?iref=allsearch
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity
Regarding the need (or not) for a-g requirements for all, a recent Weekly Standard article (America’s One-Child Policy) made what I thought was a powerful comment with regard to our inflated need for college education:
“So employers launder their request for test scores through the college system since colleges are allowed to use such considerations [of employment-related ability testing]. The universities get rich, students and their parents go into hock, and everyone pretends that Acme Widgets is hiring young Suzy because they value her B.A. in English from Haverford, and not because her admission to Haverford proved that she is bright—a fact that a free, three-hour written test would have demonstrated just as well. If Griggs [Griggs v. Duke Power] were rolled back, it would upend the college system at a stroke.”
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity
Just what the doctor oerredd, thankity you!
Report this comment for abusive language, hate speech and profanity