Developed in consultation with state leaders and national K-12 and higher education organizations, the Action Agenda for Improving America's High Schools calls on state leaders to:

• Make All Students Proficient & Prepared.  States must ensure that students arrive in high school ready to perform high school-level work and leave ready for the real demands of college and the workplace. To ensure that all students take the rigorous courses and master content needed to meet real-world demands, all young people should take a rigorous college-prep curriculum with course requirements that include four years of rigorous English and a math curriculum that covers Geometry, Algebra II, and data analysis and statistics. Equally important, states should create college- and work-ready assessments and raise the bar for end-of-course exams to the level of achievement expected to enter college and work.
  
  
• Redesign the American High School. It is not enough to raise requirements. The average high school must be made more flexible, supportive, and effective in helping low-performing students catch up with their peers. As part of this effort, states must provide additional academic supports for low-performing students and expand the range of high quality high school options for students by financing new types o high schools and providing opportunities for students to take college-level classes and earn credit while attending high school.
  
  
• Give High Schools the Excellent Teachers and Principals They Need. Strong teachers and principals are crucial for helping all students meet higher standards and leave high school ready for college and work. States must continue to raise the standards for licensure and redesign preparation and professional development to have greater flexibility and accountability in achieving higher standards. They also must continually expand new incentives for teachers to work in the neediest schools and to improve principal leadership.
  
  
• Hold High Schools and Colleges Accountable for Student Success. High schools should be held accountable for improving college and work readiness rates across all student subgroups and that data on high school performance are publicly accessible and user-friendly. Two- and four-year colleges should be held accountable for improving retention and graduation rates. The document calls on states to set five- and ten-year statewide goals and track progress in increasing high school graduation rates, percentages of students who are prepared for college and work, and postsecondary enrollment and completion rates.
  
  
• Streamline and Improve Education Governance. Because almost every state operates K-12 and postsecondary education as separate systems, the report calls on states to move toward a more unified and seamless governance systems with a single board that has authority over early childhood, elementary, secondary and higher education.