In its analysis of more than 15,000 high school transcripts, the Education Trust-West found that non-college-bound students tend to take a weak academic load and disconnected electives. As a result, far too many students--most often low-income students and students of color--are bound for low-level jobs, prepared for neither college nor career. The author, a past superintendent of schools for the San Jose Unified School District in California, describes how the district raised its graduation requirements and how, as a result, its college-going rates improved. More recently, an audit of nine school districts revealed that students face common barriers to a high-quality education. These include, among others, a failure to complete algebra and students' lack of knowledge about the courses they need to take and pass to get into college. Schools can develop a blueprint for action, which plots out a path to providing all students with access to a college-preparatory academic course of study and to success in and beyond school. (Contains 2 endnotes.)