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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 [1] 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.

For more on college and career readiness, see:

ACT results show slight increase in college, career readiness [2]

eSN Special Report: Keeping students on a path to graduation [3]

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

Expectations for going to college

Defining college and career ready

Paying for and learning about 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.