Instructors of entry-level college courses consider the common standards in mathematics and English/language arts good reflections of the skills students must master to be successful in courses in a range of disciplines, according to a survey released last week. The study, "Reaching the Goal," aims to verify a key premise of the academic standards…

A group of states that is designing tests for the common academic standards has taken a key step to ensure that the assessments reflect students' readiness for college-level work: It gave top higher education officials from member states voting power on test-design questions that are closest to the heart of the college-readiness question. At its…

Stubbornly high college remediation rates have revealed a painful equation: High school completion does not equal college readiness. That disconnection has prompted national leaders to focus like never before on figuring out how to ensure that high school graduates are truly ready to succeed in college. In that quest, a California program is often…

To make it in college, students need to be up for the academic rigor. But that's not all. They also must be able to manage their own time, get along with roommates, and deal with setbacks. Resiliency and grit, along with the ability to communicate and advocate, are all crucial life skills. Yet, experts say, many teenagers lack them, and that's…

A lot of hope is riding on a little document in the big state of Texas. Educators and policymakers who have long agonized over how the Lone Star State's low college-going rate and its high remediation rate are charting a course they hope will lead to better outcomes. This article discusses the Texas College and Career Readiness Standards as a key…

In education and workforce-training circles, a frequent mantra is that students must graduate from high school prepared for both college and work. This article reports that amid the calls for "college for all" and the clamor for more rigorous academics, the "work" part of that imperative may be muffled to the point that…

A new report proposes academic pathways that would lead some students toward careers rather than college, and that is raising fears among advocates for the disadvantaged. Leaders of the "Pathways to Prosperity" project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education argue for an education system that clearly articulates students' career options as…

Until the past decade, college wasn't much of an option for students who have significant intellectual impairments. Vanderbilt University's Next Steps program is one of many created for students with severe cognitive disabilities in the last 10 years. The programs have grown in number from about 15 in 2002 to almost 170 now, as tracked by Think…

The latest draft of proposed common academic standards offers more-detailed expectations of what students should know and be able to do by the end of high school in math and language arts, but also notes that some decisions about curricula should be left to individual states and schools. The new version, released for public comment last week, is…

When Superintendent Anthony Amato arrived in Stockton, California's 38,000-student district, he knew that three of its four comprehensive high schools had been labeled "dropout factories." Mr. Amato, who has led the Hartford, Connecticut, Kansas City, Missouri, and New Orleans districts, studied Stockton's data to form his plan. Then he…

Many educators and parents would agree that it is important for parents to spend time in their children's classrooms, to closely monitor homework, or to read to children at home. Try telling that, though, to a 13-year-old, argues Harvard University researcher Nancy E. Hill. In a series of studies and a new book, Hill makes the case that both…

This article reports on a higher education bill awaiting President Bush's signature which moves to increase accountability for programs that prepare teachers. It also refocuses the main federal funding source for education schools on collaborations between such schools and local K-12 districts to improve clinical teacher-training experiences and…

President Obama is the most prominent of a growing number of American policymakers to embrace the idea that some form of postsecondary education is crucial to students' success after high school. This year's edition of "Diplomas Count", a report by "Education Week" and the Editorial Projects in Education Research Center,…

For years, only a handful of the highest achievers graduated from high school with college courses on their transcripts. However, as states strive to blur the line between high school graduation requirements and college expectations, such dual-enrollment courses are quickly becoming part of a broader strategy to help more students become…

This article reports on a Texas charter school network which aims to expand the ranks of disadvantaged students who graduate, not just from high school, but from college as well. To earn a high school diploma, each student at YES (short for Youth Engaged in Service) Prep Public Schools, a growing Houston-area network of charters that predominantly…