WASHINGTON—Building on the national imperative first set forth at the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools, the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center), National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) today released Accelerating the Agenda: Actions to Improve America's High Schools, a joint report measuring the progress states have made improving America's high schools and citing the challenges that remain in ensuring high school students are prepared for college and career success in the global economy.

According to the report, "Outdated high schools built for a past era are yielding graduates unprepared for today's knowledge-driven economy. Our goal is to help state policymakers accelerate the development of a college and career ready agenda. We owe it to our youth and our nation to redesign the American high school and make it a cutting-edge institution once again. The future health of our economy and democracy depends on our answering this call to action."

"Several states have taken aggressive action to fix these problems, but we're not yet where we need to be," said CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit. "It is up to us as states to make the changes necessary to better prepare these students."

"Governors recognize the irrefutable links between a quality education, a productive workforce and a sound economy," said Dane Linn, director of the Education Division at the NGA Center.  "Accelerating the Agenda is meant to do just that – to accelerate the progress policymakers at all levels of government are making toward orienting standards, curricula and assessment around a college- and career-ready agenda to ensure our students are prepared and competitive."

"The challenges facing education systems are immense – from recruiting quality teachers to preparing students for the rigors of college and the work force," said William T. Pound, executive director of NCSL. "This report gauges state progress toward implementing policies that meet this challenge that center on college- and career-readiness to help build our competitiveness for the long term."

"For several years state boards of education have been advocating for, and exploring policy options to overhaul of the nation's secondary school system," said Brenda Welburn, executive director of NASBE. "The Action Agenda and the combined commitment of the state education policy organizations will accelerate the change necessary to promote a relevant and rigorous high school experience for every student."

The report represents the four organizations' shared vision for the changes needed in today's high schools and offers fresh ideas and new practices that show state leaders how to:

• Restore Value to the High School Diploma by elevating academic standards and high school graduation requirements to a college- and career-ready level;
• Redesign High Schools through alternative delivery mechanisms;
• Ensure Excellent Teachers and Principals by connecting teacher preparation, hiring and evaluation to student outcomes and other factors;
• Improve Accountability by aligning postsecondary expectations to high school expectations; and
• Enhance Education Governance by bridging K-12 and postsecondary expectation gaps through P-16 councils.

Additionally, the report highlights emerging trends, such as greater appreciation for international benchmarking and an increased focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics education that have the capacity to improve student success in the global economy.

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