Pilot Aims to Ready High Schoolers for Community College in 2 Years

Students who pass a series of exams, at that point, could leave high school and enroll—without remedial courses—in a two-year college, or stay in high school to take additional technical coursework, or pursue studies that prepare them for a university.

The approach, modeled after “board-examination systems” in use in such countries as England, is part of a pilot program announced Monday by the National Center on Education and the Economy, a Washington-based advocacy group.

The 21 schools in Arizona, Connecticut, Kentucky, and Mississippi have agreed to choose from specified packages of curricula and exams. For the lower division, in a student’s first two years, schools may use the ACT’s QualityCore program or the University of Cambridge’s International general-level program. For the upper division, schools may choose junior- and senior-level courses from ACT QualityCore, the Cambridge International A and AS level programs, the International Baccalaureate program, or the College Board’s Advanced Placement International Diploma Program. The programs include English/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts.

Marc S. Tucker, the NCEE’s president, said the idea is to ensure that every student acquires, at a minimum, the skills needed to succeed in community college, opening the possibility of proceeding smoothly into a variety of pathways offering good wages or more training.

He acknowledged that some view such a system, with its midway-point decisions, as tracking students with lesser skills into less-ambitious pathways. But he contended it’s the opposite.

“Tracking happens when educators provide kids with different curriculums with different challenge levels based on assumptions about their capacity,” he said. “This denies them opportunities. We are finding out what it takes to be successful in community college and making sure every child can reach that standard before they leave high school, so they can choose from all available options. That doesn’t close down opportunities; it expands them.”

Students can pass lower-division exams when they are ready, Mr. Tucker added. Those who don’t pass the first time will be given additional support to retake them. Likewise, schools will provide tutoring and other supports for incoming freshmen with weak academic skills, according to the NCEE’s outline of the pilot. Each school will determine how 9th grade readiness will be assessed, but many will be able to use statewide tests given in 8th grade as an indicator, he said. Teachers will also be trained in the new curricula their schools adopt, and NCEE staff members will work with the schools as they implement the new programs.

A key piece of the approach is that passage of lower-division exams will serve as a passport to skip remedial courses in community college. The two-year colleges that serve the 21 schools have agreed to that in principle, Mr. Tucker said, but a technical-advisory committee still must determine the cutoff scores on each set of exams that correspond to readiness for credit-bearing community college coursework.

Lengthy Venture?

The pilot program came in for praise from ...

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