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May 16, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on May 16, 2005.
May 9, 2005 -
This paper summarizes our recent report on the success and shortcomings of high schools in California. High school represents a critical phase in the educational
development of K-12 students. Our report examines high schools through the lens
of three groups of high school students.
Our Findings
Dropouts (Students Who Fail to Graduate).
About 30 percent of the entering ninth grade class fails to graduate on time.
Research and data suggest that the factors leading to student dropouts are in
place by the time students enter ninth grade. Despite decades of trying,
research has not identified programs or services that consistently reduce
dropout rates.
The "General" Track (Students Who Graduate Without
Qualifying for a Four-Year University). This includes about 45 percent
of entering ninth grade students. About one-half of this group attends college
after graduation and the other one-half enters the labor force. Research and
data indicate that many in this group do not have clear postgraduation goals,
which prevents these students from using
high school most effectively to make a smoother transition to adult life.
The "University" Track (Students Who Graduate and
Qualify for Admission to the State’s Public Four-Year Universities).
These students account for about one-quarter of entering ninth grade
students. Entering college freshmen frequently lack the English or mathematics
skills required for study at the university level. Higher education admissions
and placement policies contribute to the problem, as they fail to clearly
communicate the skill levels needed for success in college.
Our Recommendations
Despite considerable differences in the problems facing
these groups, several themes emerge in our recommendations that are consistent
across the groups. Our recommendations address the problems experienced by high
school students by strengthening accountability, improving information, and
increasing flexibility.
Accountability
We recommend the Legislature "fine
tune" accountability programs by:
Information
We also suggest several ways the
Legislature could employ information to help make high schools more responsive
to student needs by:
Flexibility
Flexibility also is a theme of our
report. Improvements could be made by:
The Bottom Line
While many critical factors are outside of the state’s
control, we think our recommendations provide a strategic approach for how the
state can contribute to improving high schools.
May 6, 2005 - California City School Superintendents 2004-05 Executive Board Meeting. Budget implications for K-12 education in the coming year.
May 2, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on May 2, 2005.
April 21, 2005 - Presented to the Sacramento Economics Roundtable on April 21, 2005.
April 19, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 18, 2005 and to Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on April 19, 2005.
April 18, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 18, 2005.
April 18, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 18, 2005.
April 12, 2005 - Presented to the Assembly Subcommittee No. 2 on April 12, 2005.
April 4, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 4, 2005.
April 4, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on April 4, 2005.
March 15, 2005 - Presented to the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on March 15, 2005.
March 10, 2005 - Presented to the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee No. 1 on March 7, 2005.
March 3, 2005 - Presented to the Assembly Budget Process Committee on March 2, 2005.
February 24, 2005 - We recommend the Legislature enact legislation placing before the voters a repeal of Proposition 49 because (1) it triggers an autopilot augmentation even though the state is facing a structural budget gap of billions of dollars, (2) the additional spending on after school programs is a lower budget priority than protecting districts’ base education program, and (3) existing state and federal after school funds are going unused.