Kanter Appointment Is Good News For College Transiton From Secondary School

Martha Kanter was nominated for Undersecretary of Education. She is the Chancellor of the community college district that is in my  California county. I have spoken with her many times and she really understands the problems of college preparation for broad access postsecondary education. Moreover, she understands the fundamental disjuncture between secondary and higher education that creates poor preparation. Martha taught at the high school level and worked for ETS. She grasps the inadequate signals secondary students get about standards and expectations at the college level. She has crafted specific ideas on how to improve college transition. I think she is the first community college person to hold such a high level position in the Office or Department of Education.  Her perspective will be essential to meeting Obama’s goal of imroving postsecondary persistence and completion.