Gap Between High School & College

The ACT corporation has released the results of a study stating that high school standards in the U.S. are still not sufficiently aligned with postsecondary expectations.  Reading instruction needs to be improved!   Not enough is being done to prepare high school students for college reading challenges.

The complaint from colleges is that students enter with general information in many topics.  Colleges would prefer fewer basic concepts taught at a deeper level instead of many topics taught on a shallow level.  The glitch is state standards for high schools.  The states tell the schools to teach many topics at a shallow level and teachers must follow this directive.  It is as if the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing in education. 

And there is a perception problem, as well.  The majority of high school teachers state that they are preparing students well for college.  College professors disagree and state that the majority of students are not prepared for college level work in spite of good grades.  The Common Core State Standards Initiative is a state-led effort to develop and adopt a common set of state standards.  ACT is a partner and provides details of this project.