Students are taught to believe that earning a high school diploma means they are prepared to enter college, and many policy makers and school leaders still believe that multiple-choice assessments are adequate measures of students' skills. But at a panel discussion convened by the Alliance for Excellent Education (AEE) on Sept. 12, researchers and education professionals said this is too often not the case.

AEE held the event to discuss an issue brief it published on the same day. Sponsored by the MetLife Foundation, the report claims that a fundamental disconnect exists between the way high school teachers prepare their students for the future and how students truly achieve success and meet the demands of college.

"We consider this a timely report, as well as a relevant one, since the House Committee for Education and Labor is currently looking at No Child Left Behind," said Bob Wise, AEE president and former governor of West Virginia. Among other issues, House legislators are considering measures that would call for revised assessments for college readiness and different teaching methods for encouraging 21st-century learning in their reauthorization of NCLB. (See "Lawmakers step up NCLB renewal process".)

The issue brief is also important because "recent studies have shown that the skills needed to succeed in college are similar to the skills needed for good-paying jobs," said Cyndie Schmeiser, president of the education division at ACT Inc., which administers the ACT college entrance exam.

Jane West, moderator of the panel discussion and vice president of government and external relations for the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, agreed with Schmeiser. "Just look at the Ford Motor Company, which considered moving states because they said they wanted more qualified, college-educated workers," West said.

The issue brief, a collection of data from various news sources and studies conducted by organizations such as ACT, states that only 34 percent of students graduate from high school ready for college--and that number is smaller for minorities. Overall, it says, only 18 percent of high school freshmen graduate in four years, go on to college, and earn an associate's or bachelor's degree.

Also, one-third of those who make it to college must take remedial courses, costing the nation more than $1.4 billion every year at community colleges alone, according to the report.

The problem, panelists said, is that high school standards, assessments, and course requirements are not aligned with those of colleges. In a recent ACT poll, 65 percent of college professors said they do not believe high school standards prepare students for college. Many professors believe teachers are covering too many subjects too broadly, when only a few core subjects should be taught and basic skills should be well developed in all students.