Georgia Named a Leader for Meshing College and Job Skills with High School

WASHINGTON — Georgia adopted standards in 2007 that aligned its high school graduation requirements with the skills needed for college and industry and has become a leader in this movement, a report released Wednesday found.

Georgia was among eight states to incorporate the "college and career ready standards" into high school graduation requirements last year — raising the national total to 19 states, according to the report by Achieve, Inc, a bipartisan, nonprofit group created at the 1996 National Education Summit. Twenty-six other states are also in the process of doing so.

Researchers from Achieve found that high school graduation requirements in many states fell short of the knowledge and skills needed for college and 21st century jobs. They called this the "expectations gap."

Georgia is among the states "leading the way in ensuring that students leave high school with the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in college and careers," said Michael Cohen, president of Achieve. The group issued its third annual report, Closing the Expectations Gap 2008.

"We consider Georgia a leading state" in the movement, said Matthew Gandal, executive vice president of Achieve.

Besides being one of the nineteen states that have "aligned high school standards with real-world expectations," Georgia is one of only two states (Oklahoma is the other) that incorporate the number of first-year college students who have to take remedial courses into its system of public education accountability, the report said. This measure is important in determining how well high schools are doing in preparing graduates for college, the report said.

Georgia is among seven states that have set mandatory course requirements for all students to earn the "college or career ready" high school diploma. The remaining states in the system allow students to opt out of the requirements if their parents sign a waiver.

Although Georgia is not among the nine states that require high school students to take a test to determine their readiness for college or career, it is among eight states that plan to begin such tests in 2008, the report said.

The report comes three years after 45 governors joined educational and business leaders at the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools. The study began with the question: "What does the real world expect of our high school graduates?" said Cohen.

"This is a state-led effort ... largely untouched by federal government," Cohen told a press conference.

"For states, this is not just an academic exercise," he explained. "It's about preparing students for the global economy and the demands of citizenship in an increasingly complex world."

While Georgia is "thinking creatively" to address the "expectations gap" and is among the "upper end of states" in moving toward solutions, it still has some steps to take, said Gandal.

For instance, Georgia is not among the eight states that track student progress from pre-school through their post-secondary education on how prepared they are each step of the way. Georgia is among three states that expect to have such a data system online in 2008, however.