Achieve, Inc.
Closing the Expectations Gap
This survey updates the efforts of all 50 states to align their high school standards, graduation requirements, assessments, and accountability systems with the demands of college and careers.

Achieve, Inc.
Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work?, February 2005
In this survey, high school graduates (college bound and not), college professors and employers reported that high school graduates are not prepared for college or work, did not feel challenged in high school, and would have worked harder if more was expected of them. Achieve worked with Peter D. Hart Research Associates to poll 1,487 students, 300 college professors and 400 employers.

ACT, Inc.
Crisis at the Core: Preparing All Students for College and Work, 2004
ACT evaluated the results and benefits of a rigorous college-preparation curriculum for all students, whether they plan to go to college or work after high school. It also re-evaluated the notion of the traditionally defined core curriculum and whether it adequately prepares students for success after high school.

ACT, Inc.
Ready for Work and Ready for College: Same or Different?, 2006
In this study, ACT looked at the types of occupations that pay enough to support a family of four and have potential for career advancement but that do not require a four-year college degree. The academic skill levels compared in the study were based on job profiles from ACT's WorkKeys program and the company's College Readiness Benchmarks on its ACT college admissions and placement exam. The results show that the levels of math and reading skills needed for success in the first year of college are comparable to those needed by high school graduates to enter the vast majority (90 percent) of these profiled jobs.

Adelman, Clifford
Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education
Answers in the Toolbox: Academic Intensity, Attendance Patterns, and Bachelor’s Degree Attainment, June 1999
This report looks at high school and college transcript records, test scores and surveys of a national cohort of students from the time they were in the 10th grade in 1980 until roughly age 30 in 1993 to determine what factors contribute most to long-term bachelor’s degree completion of students who attend four-year colleges (even if they also attend other types of institutions).

Educational Testing Service (ETS)
Ready for the Real World? Americans Speak on High School Reform, June 2005
Americans say high schools are not challenging our students and that the United States will be less competitive in 25 years unless high schools are overhauled. This annual survey was conducted by Peter Hart and David Winston. The focus of the survey was parents, administrators and teachers, with a special emphasis on those in California, New Jersey and Ohio. The survey’s major findings include that high school is not rigorous enough, freshmen are not arriving prepared, teachers need to be better qualified and expert in the subjects they teach, students should have to pass a test in core subjects to graduate, and our nation’s competitive position rests on education. They surveyed 2,250 adults with a margin of error plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

National Center for Education Statistics
The Condition of Education website
This website is an integrated collection of the indicators and analyses published in The Condition of Education 2000–2006. Get the latest available data on public and private enrollment in elementary/secondary education; projections of undergraduate enrollment; racial/ethnic distribution of public school students; student achievement from the National Assessment of Educational Progress in reading, mathematics, and science; adult literacy; status dropout rates; immediate transition to college; school violence and safety; educational attainment; parental choice of schools; expenditures for elementary and secondary education, and federal grants and loans to undergraduate students.