Stakeholders differ on college and career readiness


A large majority of students and executives believe few career opportunities will exist for those without some postsecondary education.

A new report reveals that while teachers, parents, students, and executives believe that college and career readiness is essential to students’ post-high school success, the groups rate this differently in terms of importance.

As a group, 73 percent of parents say the goal “must be accomplished as one of the highest priorities in education,” in contrast to 54 percent of teachers and 48 percent of executives.

When it comes to students, most agree with parents on the importance of this goal. Eighty-four percent of middle and high school students believe it is absolutely essential or very important that all students graduate from high school ready for college and a career, while only 16 percent say that it is somewhat important or not at all important.

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Eighty-five percent of teachers said they believe that “graduating each and every student from high school ready for college and a career” is a priority in education today, but they did not necessarily place that as their highest priority.

Teacher support for college and career readiness for all students is strongest among those in schools that are furthest from this goal, the report reveals. Teachers in schools that often struggle with high dropout rates and have fewer students advancing to college (such as those in schools with high proportions of low-income students or in urban areas) believe more strongly that graduating all students to be college and career ready is of paramount importance.

Teachers in both urban (57 percent) and rural (57 percent) schools are more likely than teachers in suburban schools (48 percent) to consider graduating all students to be college and career ready to be one of the highest priorities in education. New teachers with five years of experience of fewer—who are typically younger and more likely to be recent college graduates themselves—are more likely than those with more experience to say that graduating all students to be college and career ready must be done (64 percent, vs. 52 percent of those with  six to 20 years of experience and 49 percent of those with more than 20 years of experience).

The survey also examines the attitudes of parents, teachers, and executives toward some common education reform proposals, including several that are potential elements of the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). President Obama has said he wants to work with Congress to reauthorize ESEA, also known as No Child Left Behind, in 2011.

These include reforms such as measuring teacher effectiveness, increasing the ability of schools to remove teachers not serving students well, redesigning the school day and calendar, expanding public school choice, and strengthening assistance for diverse learners.

Although most members of each of the three stakeholder groups agree that these education reform proposals should be priorities, they differ widely on which proposals should take precedence over others, given limited resources.

Parents (75 percent) and executives (83 percent) place the strongest emphasis on “giving schools more ability to remove teachers who are not serving students well.” Teachers are less enthusiastic about this strategy, although 39 percent agree with parents and executives that this education reform measure is a high priority. An additional 41 percent of teachers believe that giving schools more ability to remove teachers who are not serving students well should be done, but as a lower priority.

Teachers are most likely to rate “strengthening programs and resources to help diverse learners with the highest needs meet college- and career-ready standards” as a top priority, with 59 percent saying this education reform must be done as one of the highest priorities in education. A similar number of parents (57 percent) agree with this view, in contrast with 31 percent of corporate executives.

Additional views from secondary school teachers on how best to meet the needs of students with diverse learning needs will be addressed in the second part of the survey, Teaching Diverse Learners, which will be released on March 23.

Key findings in the survey include:

The importance of college and career readiness

  • Executives and students see post-secondary education as a career necessity. Most middle and high school students (84 percent) and Fortune 1000 executives (77 percent) agree there will be few or no career opportunities for today’s students who do not complete some education beyond high school.
  • Teachers (57 percent) are most likely to believe that strengthening programs and resources to help diverse learners with the highest needs meet college-and career-ready standards should be one of the highest priorities in education, and a significant proportion of parents (59 percent) also rate this as one of the highest priorities.

Expectations for going to college

  • Students have high expectations for college, and these expectations have increased over the past two decades. In 1988, 57 percent of middle and high school students said it was very likely they would go to college. By 1997, this level had increased to 67 percent. Today, 75 percent say it is very likely they will go to college.
  • On average, teachers predict that 63 percent of their students will graduate high school ready for college without the need for remedial coursework, and that 51 percent of their students will graduate from college.

Defining college and career ready

  • Nearly all English (99 percent) and math (92 percent) teachers rate the ability to write clearly and persuasively as absolutely essential or very important. But far fewer English (45 percent) and math (50 percent) teachers view knowledge and ability in higher-level mathematics, such as trigonometry and calculus, as absolutely essential or very important.
  • Despite a national emphasis by many corporations to improve America’s math and science teaching, just three in 10 executives surveyed (31 percent) say advanced science courses are absolutely essential or very important for college- and career-readiness. Only 40 percent say advanced math knowledge and skills are this critical. In contrast, executives rate critical thinking (99 percent), problem solving (99 percent), and strong writing skills (97 percent) as absolutely essential or very important.
  • Two-thirds of teachers (63 percent), parents (63 percent), and Fortune 1000 executives (65 percent) think that knowledge of other cultures and international issues is absolutely essential or very important to be ready for college and a career—including about two in ten who think such knowledge is absolutely essential.

Paying for and learning about college

  • More students worry more about having enough money to pay for college (57 percent) than about being able to get into college (31 percent) or to succeed in college (33 percent). Hispanic and African-American students are more likely than white students to worry about being able to succeed in college (48 percent vs. 34 percent vs. 27 percent, respectively).
  • Parents say schools are not doing enough to tell them how students can get into and pay for college. About half of parents rate their child’s school as fair or poor at providing information to parents on the requirements to get into college (46 percent) or about the availability of financial aid for college and how to get it (52 percent).
  • Middle school students and parents in particular express a need for information. Half or more of middle school students (53 percent) and parents of middle school students (60 percent) rate their schools as fair or poor in providing information to students about what the requirements are to get into college.

The survey is the 27th in an annual series commissioned by MetLife and conducted by Harris Interactive. It reflects responses collected Oct. 4 through Nov. 11 from 1,000 public school teachers, 2,002 public school students, and 580 parents of public school students in grades 6-12, as well as 301 business executives from Fortune 1000 companies.

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