American Diploma Project

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American Diploma Project

• How well prepared are our students for the world
  after high school?
• What does it mean to be prepared for college and
  work?
• Do we expect all of our students to be prepared?
• Closing the expectations gap what will it take?
• Progress in closing the gap 2005 - 2006

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American Diploma Project

• How well prepared are our
• students?

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American Diploma Project

• Not as well prepared as they need to be
• 30 of 9th graders drop out without earning a hs
  diploma
• Only half of African American and Hispanic
  students graduate within 4 years
• 30 of 1st year college students require
  remediation
• 40 45 of recent high school graduates report
  significant gaps in their schools, for college
  and work
• Employers and college faculty report 40-45 of
  recent hs grads are not well prepared

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American Diploma Project

• What does it take to be
• prepared for postsecondary
• education and work?

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American Diploma Project

• Partnership of Achieve, Inc. The Education
  Trust and the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation.
• Partnered with Indiana, Kentucky, Massachusetts,
  Nevada and Texas.
• Involved wide variety of K12, higher education
  and business representatives.
• Key finding Unprecedented convergence of skills
  required for success in college and work.
• Higher education and employers emphasize
  importance of workers being able to think
  creatively and logically and to identify and
  solve problems.

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Expectations are the same for both college
good jobs

• The knowledge skills that high school graduates
  will need in order to be successful in college
  are the same as those they will need in order to
  be successful in a job that
• pays enough to support a family well above the
  poverty level,
• provides benefits,
• offers clear pathways for career advancement
  through further education training.

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ADP expectations ensure high school graduates are
prepared to succeed

• In English, the benchmarks cover
• Language
• Communication
• Writing
• Research
• Logic
• Informational text
• Media
• Literature

• In math, the benchmarks cover
• Number sense and numerical operations
• Algebra
• Geometry
• Data interpretations, statistics and probability
• Math reasoning skills

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ADP Mathematics Benchmarks

• Perform basic operations on algebraic expressions
  fluently and accurately.
• Graph ellipses and hyperbolas.and demonstrate an
  understanding of the relationship between
  standards algebraic form and their graphical
  characteristics.
• Recognize and solve problems that can be modeled
  using a system of two equations and two
  variables
• Know about the similarity of figures and use the
  scale factor to solve problems

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To be college and work ready, students need to
complete a rigorous sequence of courses
To cover the content in the ADP benchmarks, high
school graduates need

• In math
• Four courses
• Content equivalent to Algebra I and II, Geometry,
  and a fourth course such as Statistics or
  Precalculus

• In English
• Four courses
• Content equivalent to four years of grade-level
  English or higher (i.e., honors or AP English)

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Recommended Math Courses for 16 CTE Career
Clusters
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Comparable levels of math required for college
and workforce training

• ACT found comparable levels of math skills in
  algebra and algebraic thinking, geometry and
  geometric thinking, and data representation and
  statistical thinking, required for college
  ready benchmark on ACT, and workforce training
  readiness on WorkKeys for jobs that offer a
  livable wage and are projected to grow, but do
  not require a bachelors degree.

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American Diploma Project

• What do we expect of our
• high school graduates?
• States set
• Standards
• Course-taking requirements
• Assessments

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State high school standards not always anchored
in real-world expectations

• In most states, standards reflect a consensus
  among discipline-based experts about what would
  be important for young people to learn not a
  reflection of what would be essential to know to
  succeed at the next level.
• Few states postsecondary faculty and employers
  have verified that state high school standards
  reflect their expectations.

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44 states require students to take certain
courses to graduate from high school
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23 states require Algebra I
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16 states require Geometry
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Only 8 states require Algebra II
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Do assessments measure college-ready skills?

• Half the states require students to pass one or
  more exams to earn a high school diploma.
• What does it take to pass these tests?

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Students can pass state math tests knowing
content typically taught in 7th and 8th grade
internationally
Grade when most international students cover
content required to pass state math tests
FL MD MA
NJ OH TX
Source Achieve, Inc., Do Graduation Tests
Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School
Exit Exams, 2004.
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Reading tests downplay higher-level skills
Source Achieve, Inc., Do Graduation Tests
Measure Up? A Closer Look at State High School
Exit Exams, 2004.
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American Diploma Project

• What do recent high school graduates tell us
  about the expectations they faced?

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Knowing what they know today, high school
graduates would have worked harder
Source Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public
Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge Are
High School Graduates Prepared for College and
Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.
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If high school had demanded more, graduates would
have worked harder

• Would have
• worked harder

82
80

• Strongly feel
• would have worked harder

• Wouldnt have worked harder

High school graduates who did not go to college
High school graduates who went to college
Source Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public
Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge Are
High School Graduates Prepared for College and
Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.
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Majority of graduates would have taken harder
courses
Knowing what you know today about the
expectations of college/work
Would have taken more challenging courses in at
least one area Math Science English
Would have taken more challenging courses in
Source Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public
Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge Are
High School Graduates Prepared for College and
Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.
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Algebra II critical for college and work
High school graduates extremely or very well
prepared for expectations of college/work
Source Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public
Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge Are
High School Graduates Prepared for College and
Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.
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American Diploma Project

• What will it take to close the expectations gap?

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Closing the expectations gap requires states to
take action

• Align high school standards and assessments with
  the knowledge and skills required for success in
  postsecondary education and work.
• Administer a college- and work-ready assessment,
  aligned to state standards, to high school
  students so they get clear and timely information
  and are able to address critical skill
  deficiencies while still in high school.
• Require all students to take a college- and
  work-ready curriculum to earn a high school
  diploma.
• Hold high schools accountable for graduating
  students who are college ready, and hold
  postsecondary institutions accountable for their
  success once enrolled.

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ADP Network 22 states committed to improving
student achievement
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American Diploma Project Network

• Progress in Closing the Expectations Gap
• 2005 - 2006

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Making Progress
Source Achieve Survey/Research, 2006.
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Making Progress
Source Achieve Survey/Research, 2006.
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Making Progress
Source Achieve Survey/Research, 2006.
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Making Progress
Source Achieve Survey/Research, 2006.
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Making Progress
Source Achieve Survey/Research, 2006.
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Making Progress
Source Achieve Survey/Research, 2006.
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For more information, please visit Achieve, Inc.,
on the Web at http//www.achieve.org
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