The global economy is changing the nature of work and the kinds of jobs our young people will enter. Jobs that once required a high school degree and paid $50,000 a year plus retirement and health benefits are disappearing, and new jobs require more knowledge and skills than ever before. Today, roughly two-thirds of all new jobs require some form of postsecondary education. Experts say this percentage will increase in the future.

States Need to Keep Pace with Rising Knowledge Demands

Employers and college leaders say that graduates from high school need to master higher-level mathematics and communications skills more than ever before. Research reveals that the ticket for student
success in work or future learning is taking courses in math beyond Algebra II and advanced courses in English and science. But few states expect students to take these courses. In fact:

• Only eighteen states have aligned their high school graduation requirements with college and workplace expectations, according to a recent Achieve study.
• Twenty-six states require students to pass an exam before they graduate high school, but these tests tend to measure only 8th, 9th or 10th grade skills rather than the higher-level skills students need to succeed in college and the workplace.
• Meanwhile, only nine states have testing systems with components that assess whether or not students have mastered college- and career-ready knowledge and skills.

High School Graduates Aren't Prepared To Succeed

As a result, many high school graduates enter postsecondary education and work unprepared for the demands of learning and earning. As many as 39 percent of recent graduates now enrolled in college and 46 percent in the workforce say there were significant gaps in their preparation. Professors and employers agree, estimating that four out of 10 graduates aren't ready for college or employment.

States, postsecondary institutions, and employers spend upward of $17 billion each year on remedial classes just so students can gain the knowledge and skills that they should have acquired in school.

Postsecondary remediation can't make up entirely for inadequate preparation in high school. Studies indicate that more than three-quarters (76 percent) of all students who take remedial courses in reading and nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of students who take one or two remedial courses in math fail to earn degrees, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Students Will Respond if We Challenge Them

Young people tend to achieve what's expected of them. The problem is, we're just not asking enough. Students need to be challenged, and, in fact, want to be. According to a recent poll, 88 percent of students said they would work harder if their school demanded more of them, set higher standards and raised expectations. An overwhelming majority of students who've entered college and the workforce say that, knowing what they know now, they would've worked harder and applied themselves more in high school. Most would take harder courses if they could go back.

Raising the Bar Is Doable, but We Need To Work Together

We can do better. Ensuring that young people graduate with the skills and knowledge they need requires relentless effort from all sectors, including government, K-12 and postsecondary education, business, and community organizations, as well as parents and young people themselves.

Achieve's research shows that states are working hard to better prepare students for college and work and that they have made significant progress in some areas, including increasing graduation requirements, monitoring student progress and building systems to share data about student performance in postsecondary education with high schools. These efforts are helping to ensure that more young people will not just finish school but will have the skills and knowledge needed to thrive in the new knowledge-based, high-skills economy.