Statement by Michael Cohen, President, Achieve, Inc. On The MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Preparing Students for College and Careers: Part I: Clearing the Path

NEWS STATEMENT

CONTACT:

Sandy Boyd, (202) 419-1542, sboyd@achieve.org

WASHINGTON – March 9, 2011 – The 2010 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher demonstrates that there is a broad support for college and career readiness for all students being a national priority—and a recognition that some education after high school is a necessity in today’s economy. Teachers, parents and students alike understand that a high school education isn’t sufficient to prepare young people for today’s careers.

The report is a call to action, not just a study. It is a reminder that our public schools can’t prepare young people for postsecondary success unless our colleges and employers forge closer, ongoing ties with educators, students and their families.

The study shows that while the vast majority of middle and high school students aspire to attend college, many report that they don’t know how to prepare academically or financially to get there. We need to help our schools and colleges do a better job of providing students and their parents with the information they need to succeed in high school and beyond.

It is particularly important that states, colleges and employers provide secondary school educators with better information about the postsecondary performance of their students. The report shows that teachers overall are less optimistic than parents or students about the prospects of students graduating from high school prepared for college, and of students earning a college degree. If anything teachers in this survey overestimate the percentage of students who graduate college-and career-ready, and overestimate the percentage of their students who will earn a college degree. And while they understand clearly how important it is for students to be able to write clearly and persuasively, they underestimate the importance of rigorous mathematics.

College and career readiness—as this survey reinforces--is the new national expectation for all students. It is important that college and career-ready policies are grounded in the real world demands of employers and postsecondary institutions—and to the extent there is a disconnect between what the real world expects of high school graduates and the views of the public, we must all redouble our efforts to close that gap.

To learn more about Achieve's college- and career-ready agenda, visit www.achieve.org.

Download this news statement in printer-friendly PDF format.

Download a PDF of the 2010 MetLife Survey of the American Teacher here.

Created in 1996 by the nation’s governors and corporate leaders, Achieve is an independent, bipartisan, nonprofit education reform organization based in Washington D.C. that helps states raise academic standards and graduation requirements, improve assessments, and strengthen accountability. Achieve is leading the effort to make college and career readiness a national priority so that the transition from high school graduation to postsecondary education and careers is seamless. In 2005 Achieve launched the American Diploma Project Network. Starting with 13 original states, the Network has now grown to include 35 states educating nearly 85 percent of all U.S. public school students. Through the ADP Network, governors, state education officials, postsecondary leaders and business executives work together to improve postsecondary preparation by aligning high school standards, assessments, graduation requirements and accountability systems with the demands of college and careers. Achieve partnered with NGA and CCSSO on the Common Core State Standards Initiative and a number of its staff served on writing and review teams. More recently, Achieve was selected to manage the PARCC assessment consortia. The 25 state PARCC consortia was awarded Race to the Top assessment funds to create next generation assessments in math and English aligned to the CCSS. For more information about the work of Achieve, visit www.achieve.org.