Advocacy group calls for improvement of secondary schools

Bills pending before Congress can help improve programs.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An educational advocacy group is calling for action at all levels to improve America’s secondary schools so all students graduate with the skills and knowledge they need.

The Alliance for Education, a national policy, research and advocacy organization, said Congress can pass legislation that will help keep students in school and provide them with the education they need to succeed in life.

Bills pending that would support these goals include the Striving Readers Act, the Graduation Promise Act and the Every Student Counts Act.

Statistics

The organization offers some sobering statistics to prove its point:

•Every school day, nearly 7,000 American high school students become dropouts.

•Only 70 percent of all entering freshmen and slightly more than half of students of color finish high school with a regular diploma.

•Only 30 percent of students entering high school read at the appropriate grade level.

•An estimated 85 percent of current jobs and almost 90 percent of fast-growing and best-paying jobs require some postsecondary education.

•Dropouts from the class of 2006 alone cost the nation more than $309 billion in lost wages, taxes and productivity over their lifetimes.

The federal No Child Left Behind law, designed to ensure that children are getting an education, is coming up for renewal this fall. However, as written, it fails to extend to high schools, according to the Alliance.

Action by Congress can correct that oversight, the organization said.

Checklist

The Alliance offers Ten Elements of a Successful High School as a checklist to determine whether high schools are providing the education every child deserves.

•Challenging Classes: All students must learn advanced skills that are key to success in college and the 21st century workplace, and be given the opportunity to earn industry certification or some college credit.

•Personal Attention for All Students: Every high school should be small enough — or divided into small enough units — to allow teachers and staff to know all students and respond to their specific learning needs.

•Extra Help for Those Who Need It: Every high school should have a system in place to identify kids as soon as they start to struggle in reading, math or any core subject.

•Bringing the Real World to the Classroom: High schools should help students make the connection between book learning and the skills needed to be successful in life.

•Family/Community Involvement: Students thrive when their high schools encourage positive learning relationships among families, educators, faith groups, civic organizations, businesses and other members of the community.

•A Safe Learning Environment: Every high school must guarantee the safety of its students, teachers, staff and visitors.

•Skilled Teachers: Every teacher should know well the subjects they teach and know well how to teach all kinds of students.

•Strong Leaders: Every high school needs a skillful principal and a strong educational leader.

•Necessary Resources: Every high school should provide all students and teachers with the books, computers, laboratory equipment, technology and other neededresources.

•User-friendly Information: Community members should have easy access to information giving a clear picture of how well the school serves all of its students.