REFORMING
AMERICA’S HIGH SCHOOLS: ALIGNMENT OF STANDARDS AND GRADUATION
REQUIREMENTS
WHEREAS,
no state can currently claim that every student who earns a high school diploma
is academically prepared for post-secondary education and the world of work;
and
WHEREAS, nearly half the states require high school students to pass exit
exams that assess 8th and 9th grade content rather than
measuring skills needed to prepare students to take college credit courses or
do high-performance, high growth jobs which do not measure what reflects real
world demands of colleges or employers; and
WHEREAS, at least 28 percent of high school graduates who enter two and
four-year colleges immediately take remedial courses in English and math, and
college transcripts indicate that 53 percent of students take at least one
remedial math or English course, and the percentages are significantly higher
for poor and minority students; and
WHEREAS, a majority of high school graduates who enter college, fewer
than half leave with a degree and the numbers are significantly fewer for African-American
and Hispanic students; and
WHEREAS, more than 60 percent of employers rate high school graduates’
skills in grammar, spelling, writing and basic math as only fair or poor; and
WHEREAS, too few high school students take challenging courses nor do
they take courses in appropriate sequences to build the necessary skills and
knowledge; and
WHEREAS, the academic standards that have been developed by states over
the past ten to fifteen years reflect a consensus among individual discipline
experts as to what is desirable for students to learn and skills to acquire,
yet they are a first generation of standards that have not been updated for
demands of colleges and the world of work for the 21st century,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that The U.S. Conference of Mayors urges the
federal government include in the requirements of No Child Left Behind and
other related legislation as it influences the establishment of state standards
that standards be aligned with the knowledge and skills expected by colleges
and employers if high school graduates are to succeed, and colleges and
employers need to honor and reward student achievement by using performance
data in admissions, placement and hiring decisions; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls for
all students to be held to the same standards, using the same measures,
regardless of whether students are in traditional, charter, theme-based or
alternative public or private schools, or are home-schooled; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The U.S. Conference of Mayors calls for
the federal government to take several steps to provide influence and support
such as providing student financial aid incentives for high school students who
take a college or workplace readiness curriculum, provide resources to states
and local school systems through legislation to align high school standards,
assessments and graduation requirements with knowledge and skills necessary for
post-secondary education and work; require through the Higher Education Act
data on numbers of students taking remedial courses and degree completion; and
utilize its influence in changing the course requirements for graduation, and
the opportunities and environments in which high school students learn to
better prepare them for college and/or employment.
©2004 U.S. Conference of Mayors 