Joint Report Chronicles Progress and Challenges of States in Improving Competitiveness of U.S. High Schools

Our goal is to help state policymakers accelerate the development of a college- and
career-ready policy agenda.

Actions to
Improve
America’s
High Schools

The original Action Agenda for Improving America’s High Schools was released on
the eve of the 2005 National Education Summit on High Schools. Since then,
governors, legislators, state boards of education, and education chiefs have worked
tirelessly to transform industrial-era high schools into 21st-century learning environments
so U.S. competitiveness will not be lost. Progress has occurred, but stagnant
rates of student achievement remind us that work still remains.

Recognizing this, the four organizations that represent the major education stakeholders
within each state first met a year ago and agreed to revisit the Action
Agenda. We continued to meet to converse, research, debate, and challenge one another.
Through that dialogue, this update to the initial report emerged.

Our goal is to help state policymakers accelerate the development of a college- and
career-ready policy agenda. This jointly authored report reveals the progress many
states have made since 2005 and discusses more recent trends such as the use of
international benchmarking and a focus on science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics education. Most importantly, it charts the course forward. Moving to
enact and implement the recommended actions will require lasting
cooperation among all key state partners.

Full Report: http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0901IMPROVEHIGHSCHOOLS.PDF