Ready for the Future

1. Ready for the Future New Jersey State Board of Education December 20, 2006

2. Our world is changing—What will this require of our kids? 2

3. The world we know is changing • Our economy is now global. • New technologies are being developed each day reshaping our way of life in the process. • Technological advances are eliminating lower-skill jobs. • High schools will need to change in order to adequately prepare all students.

4. There was a time when… • Mail was delivered by horse and it took six months to deliver a letter from New Jersey to California. • Trains/cars took six days to deliver a letter from New Jersey to California. • Planes could deliver a letter overnight. • But now, the Internet takes seconds to send a message.

5. Circa 1990 • Things that did not yet exist include: • Cell phones • Digital cameras • Wireless connections • DVDs • Satellite television • E-mail and instant messaging

6. Technological advances tend to eliminate lower-skill jobs • Lower-skill jobs are disappearing: • Toll takers replaced by E-Z Pass • Telephone operators replaced by voice recognition systems • Bank tellers replaced by ATM machines and online banking programs

7. Competitive pressures on New Jersey graduates • Now that employers have a global workforce to draw from, competition for U.S. jobs comes from around the world. • Today’s students will need the skills necessary to compete in a global arena.

8. Employment outlook • Jobs that require at least some postsecondary education are expected to make up more than two-thirds of new jobs. • With only 25% of today’s New Jersey high school graduates actually obtaining a college degree, who will fill these jobs? Will these jobs stay in New Jersey? • Those who complete college earn, on average, almost $1 million more than high school graduates over the course of a lifetime.

9. Share of new jobs, 2000–10that require… Source: Carnevale, Anthony P. and Donna M. Desrochers, Standards for What? The Economic Roots of K–16 Reform, Educational Testing Service, 2003.

10. Workforce readiness also requires advanced skills and knowledge • A high school diploma is no longer a ticket to the middle class. • Blue-collar jobs now require high-level skills: • Requirements for car mechanic • The ability to read at a level equivalent to a junior in college • Requirements for tool and die makers • Four or five years of apprenticeship and/or postsecondary training • Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and statistics • Requirements for sheet metal workers • Four or five years of apprenticeship • Algebra, geometry, trigonometry and technical reading

11. What does being prepared mean? 11

12. Prepared equals • Students must graduate from high school ready for the workforce or further education.

13. The American Diploma Project (ADP) • ADP benchmarks represent a consensus of business and higher education viewpoints on essential skills. • The NJ Chamber of Commerce and The NJ Council of College and University Presidents have endorsed the ADP Benchmarks.

14. Graduates going on to college or work need the same skills • Machine Operator • Eastman Chemical Company • Required Skills: • Add, subtract, multiply, divide and simplify rational expressions • Calculate and apply ratios, proportions and percentages to solve problems • Recognize and solve problems using a linear equation and one variable • Apply units correctly in expressions involving measurements • Determine the perimeter and the circumference of geometric shapes • CollegeMath • Required Skills: • Add, subtract, multiply, divide and simplify rational expressions • Understand functional notation • Solve systems of two linear equations in two variables • Solve quadratic equations in one variable • Graph a linear equation and quadratic function • Determine the perimeter and the circumference of geometric shapes Source—American Diploma Project Network

15. ADP Benchmarks outline a rigorous sequence of courses for high school students • Four math courses • Content equivalent to: • Algebra I and II • Geometry • A fourth course such as statistics or precalculus • Four English courses • Content equivalent to: • Four years of grade-level English or higher (e.g., honors or Advanced Placement English)

16. How do New Jersey’s students measure up? 16

17. Too many New Jersey students are dropping out of the education system Source: National Center for Public Policy & Higher Education, Policy Alert, April 2004. Data are estimates of pipeline progress rather than actual cohort.

18. How ready for college are New Jersey students? • While New Jersey leads the nation in college preparedness, it still leaves about half of its students underprepared for the rigor of higher education.

19. College instructors confirm high school graduates lack preparation • According to a recent Achieve, Inc. survey of college instructors, 42% of high school graduates are not prepared for college-level classes. Source: Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.

20. New Jersey public college and university remediation rates Among first-time students **Estimate 20

21. Community college remediation rates 21 First-time, full-time students who graduated from high school in Spring 2004 and enrolled at a community college in Fall 2004.

22. Most U.S. college students who take remedial courses fail to earn degrees Percentage not earning degree by type of remedial coursework Source: National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 2004.

23. New Jersey college graduation rates • The six-year graduation rate for New Jersey’s state colleges and universities is 63.2%. • The three-year graduation rate for New Jersey’s community colleges is 13.2%.

24. New Jersey state college and university retention/graduation rates Among full-time, first-time degree seeking students

25. Community college retention/graduation rates 25 Among full-time, first-time degree seeking students

26. Employers confirm high school graduates lack preparation • According to a recent Achieve, Inc. survey of employers, 45% of high school graduates are not prepared to advance beyond entry-level jobs. Source: Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.

27. Are New Jersey students ready for the workforce? • In a recent survey by the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, 99% of New Jersey companies indicated that graduates do not have the skills to meet their needs.

28. Are New Jersey students ready for the workforce? • A New Jersey employer had to interview 1,300 candidates for 130 security jobs. • Criteria for being considered for this job were successful completion of a high school diploma and passing an application test. • 100% of the applicants had high school diplomas, but 90% couldn’t pass the test which measured eighth grade math skills.

29. How should we prepare students? 29

30. What other states are doing • Improving high schools is a national movement. • The 25 states, including New Jersey, in the ADP Network comprise more than 50% of public school students in the nation. • Several states are making great strides in improving high school education.

31. New Jersey’s ADP goals • Align New Jersey’s high school standards in language arts literacy and math to the knowledge and skills required for success in postsecondary education and work.

32. New Jersey’s ADP goals • Representatives from NJ colleges and businesses have adopted formal expectations for success in postsecondary education and work. • NJ’s standards in math and LAL at the high school levels are being aligned to these expectations.

33. New Jersey’s ADP goals • Require all students to take a college- and work-ready curriculum to earn a high school diploma. • Require specific H.S. course content • Present new H.S. graduation requirements to the State Board

34. Current graduation requirements for language arts literacy, math, and science

35. Recommended graduation requirements—language arts literacy

36. Recommended graduation requirements—mathematics

37. Recommended graduation requirements—science

38. Recommended graduation requirements—other areas

39. New Jersey’s ADP goals • Administer to high school students a college- and work-ready assessment, aligned to state standards, that provides clear and timely information to address critical skills deficiencies while still in high school. • ADP recommends a more rigorous HSPA and end of course exams in Algebra II and English III. • Eliminate the Special Review Assessment (SRA) and establish a rigorous alternate path for students who don’t pass the HSPA.

40. Special Review Assessment Data

41. New Jersey’s ADP goals • Assist middle and high schools to: • Restructure programs and schools to deliver a rigorous, standards-based curriculum to ALL students. • Provide a personalized, engaging learning environment.

42. New Jersey’s ADP goals • Design and offer sustained, intensive, job-embedded professional development to enable educators to meet these goals.

43. Are our students up for the challenge? 43

44. Knowing what they know today, high school graduates would have worked harder Source: Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.

45. If high school had demanded more, graduates would have worked harder • Would have worked harder • Strongly feel would have worked harder • Wouldn’t have worked harder High school graduates who went to college High school graduates who did not go to college Source: Peter D. Hart Research Associates/Public Opinion Strategies, Rising to the Challenge: Are High School Graduates Prepared for College and Work? prepared for Achieve, Inc., 2005.

46. 52% 28% 20% Wish I stayed in high school Satisfied with decision Not sure how I feel A majority of recent New Jersey high school dropouts regret their decision Source: New Jersey United for Higher School Standards, 2006.

47. Advice from New Jersey high school dropouts • In a recent survey by New Jersey United, recent high school dropouts were asked what they would say to students still in high school: “Stay in school and work as hard as you can to succeed. Life is too hard without an education.” “You need your education. I know it may be difficult at this time, but stick it out and finish.” “School is worth it because it will help you get to that next step in life.”

48. Are our schools up for the challenge? 48

49. The challenges • High schools were designed a century ago to address the needs of an industrial economy.

50. 2005 High School Graduation Survey Information • Conducted by NJDOE • Types of schools included: • Charter schools • Vocational-technical schools • Adult high schools/Evening schools • Comprehensive high schools