Ensuring all American high school students graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed following graduation is at the center of NGA Chair Colorado Governor Jared Polis’ “Let’s Get Ready: Educating All Americans for Success” initiative.
At the second regional convening for his Chair’s Initiative, held in Las Vegas, Governor Polis was joined by College Board CEO David Coleman for a discussion on ways Governors can transform the current high school education system to prepare high school students for diverse college and career paths.
The not-for-profit College Board started more than 120 years ago, pioneering programs like the SAT® and AP® to expand opportunities for students and help them develop the skills they need for success following high school. In his remarks, Coleman said the organization remains committed to its mission to help students navigate the path from high school to college and career while also looking to foster new, innovative approaches that meet the current needs of all students, not just the approximately 30% of students, who historically have focused on SAT and AP courses.
During the conversation, Coleman expressed concern that the current high school curriculum – what he calls “middle school once more with feeling” needs to be retooled to engage students. “If we cannot transform the core of the high school, not through electives, but the central courses students take to immediately meet them at what fascinates them,” Coleman stated, “we’ll continue to lose the vast middle of the American high school. That is our total focus right now.”
Coleman offered suggestions for how Governors, states, school, teachers and education-focused organizations like College Board can change the current high school system to create a richer educational environment that matches students’ interests and provides real life experiences while helping students develop the skills they will need to succeed in whatever path they choose after high school graduation.
Specifically, Coleman recommended developing more opportunities for students to earn credentials, such as offering courses that help students get employment and college credit at the same time. He cautioned against adding more mandatory requirements, arguing students do not gain from requirements, such as computer science or personal finance requirements, but instead benefit when they learn valuable skills that apply directly to their current interests and future aspirations.
Utah Governor Spencer Cox expressed agreement about the need to engage students in topics that appeal to their personal interests and goals, stating, “I think we’ve got this backwards. We need to give every freshman coming into university a real life experience with the thing they’re interested in. This is a good work-based learning, and then we can do all the other [course requirements] on the back end, once they discover the love of what they’re doing … If you give a kid a real life experience with nursing or EMTs, emergency services [for example …] they’re going to enjoy biology and chemistry on the back end” while fulfilling the academic requirements necessary to pursue the career path that matches their interests.
The conversation also explored ways schools, businesses and states can help improve the current high school curriculum to reach all students. Coleman argued, for example, that teachers need more training and supportive resources to help prepare students, especially in rural America.
Governor Polis and attendees also considered the need for schools and elected leaders to look at programs that better prepare students to enter the workforce, such as career and technical education (CTE). Governor Polis highlighted the positive impact one CTE is having on the Las Vegas community by visiting the Southeast Career Technical Academy on the second day of the Let’s Get Ready convening.
The Southeast Career Technical Academy (SECTA) is a four-year high school and Career Technical Academy. Its graduates earn a high school diploma while also training in one of twelve majors. The program enables students to gain hands-on experience and earn industry certifications and college credits, modeling many of the best practices discussed during the first day of the Las Vegas Let’s Get Ready convening, as the school helps students identify their natural interests and aptitudes and then matches students to courses of study that will offer personal enrichment in addition to clear steps students can take to pursue college studies, apprenticeship opportunities or good-paying jobs.
The SECTA visit helped highlight several other recommendations discussed in the previous day’s convening, demonstrating how one CTE program is modeling effective strategies to prepare students for success – which in turn improves America’s economic competitiveness.
Please watch the full session below, and bookmark the Let’s Get Ready! homepage for future updates on the Initiative.
