NCLB Needs To Be Changed To Focus More On College Readiness

As part of a series on the shortcomings of NCLB as it relates to high school accountability and improvement, the Alliance for Education has released a policy brief proposing a strengthened federal role in preparing students for college and career. At a moment when “emerging best practices have shed light on more effective approaches to high school improvement, the national discourse on high schools has begun to shift from one about the crisis to one about solutions.” The brief argues for “harness[ing] this progress and momentum,” strategically designing the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act to “move the nation toward the goal of all students graduating from high school ready for college and careers.” Federal policy must therefore establish college and career readiness as the common goal for all students; ensure meaningful accountability for high school outcomes around common indicators; replace the current one-size-fits-all school improvement process with state- and district-led systems that are differentiated and data driven; support strategies for high school improvement on a larger scale, including district-wide; build system capacity to implement bold approaches to teaching and learning, school organization, and system structure; and provide new funding for the implementation of these innovative solutions.
Read more: http://www.all4ed.org/files/PolicyBriefReinventingFedRoleEd.pdf