Policy Goals
Policy Priority 1: All Students Proficient and Prepared for College and Work
To ensure access to equal educational opportunities and reverse the graduation crisis among students of color, we must challenge all students to meet the same high academic expectations. Graduating high school seniors—whether they plan to pursue a postsecondary degree or join the work force–should reasonably expect that the hundreds of classes, homework assignments, and exams of the last four years prepared them for success after high school. Instead, many find that they need remedial classes to acquire basic knowledge and skills for even basic college courses.
In fact, students who attend college without having mastered basic skills cost our nation more than $2 billion a year in remedial coursework. Additionally, increasing numbers of employers require workers to have some postsecondary education and look for candidates who possess critical thinking and problem- solving skills.
All high school students have the right to graduate ready for college and work. Educators must show that they have confidence in young people’s ability to learn by assigning them rigorous coursework that matches their world view and clearly applies to life beyond the classroom.
Policy Recommendations
To increase student proficiency and preparedness for college and meaningful employment, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends:
- aligning high school academic standards with college and work-readiness requirements;
- requiring states to publicly report on access to college preparatory classes and coursework by income, race, and ethnicity among and within schools; and
- providing parents with meaningful information and other supports necessary to enable them to find a rigorous curriculum for their children;
- promoting culturally relevant content knowledge and teaching that prepares students to be effective in a global economy;
- frames of reference of students most impacted by the national dropout crisis; and
- guaranteeing that all students have access to rigorous and engaging classes in core subjects.
Policy in Action
Placeholder for example(s).
Policy Priority 2: High Schools That are Accountable for Student Success
America’s high schools are meant to provide young people with the knowledge and skills necessary for life after graduation, but there are few mechanisms in place to make sure schools are delivering on this promise. Unfortunately, many students of color and youth from low-income neighborhoods receive a substandard education and the lack of sufficient data about different racial, ethnic, and language groups impedes our ability to accurately diagnose and address problems.
American high schools should have the capacity to provide top-quality instruction, but are currently failing to offer it to all students. Schools that operate without data that specifically characterizes the academic, graduation, and dropout crisis they are facing by default neglect the needs of whole segments of the student population, hindering their ability to succeed in our neighborhood schools.
Policy Recommendations
In order to ensure that American high schools are serving all students equally, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends:
- developing state longitudinal data systems that align student data with teacher data and school performance and resource data;
- commonly defining graduation rates and following every child’s path to graduation;
- developing No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act accountability that requires schools to increase their graduation rates over time and to consider graduation rates on an equal footing with college and work-readiness in determining school quality;
- providing incentives and professional development to foster more effective, data-driven decisionmaking;
- publicly reporting disaggregated racial and ethnic data;
- investing in technical assistance and proven school improvement tools; and
- using high-quality, valid, and accurate assessments for all students.
Policy in Action
Placeholder for example(s).
Policy Priority 3: A Redesigned American High School
Raising expectations for students is an empty action if schools do not also adapt a variety of models and teaching methods to meet the needs of a diverse student body with a range of learning styles and support needs. To be effective, instruction must meet students where they are, and thus states and districts should be afforded the flexibility to explore and implement new strategies.
Policy Recommendations
To serve the needs of America’s diverse learners, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends that high schools be redesigned so that they:
- implement a variety of models that support different learning styles and student situations;
- provide student supports that combine in-school and community-based services;
- promote strategies and interventions that improve student math and reading skills;
- promote instructional practices designed to meet the needs of diverse learners;
- ensure that valid criteria are used to inform decisions about student eligibility for services in special education, services for English language learners, college preparatory curricula, and gifted and talented programs;
- develop consistent standards and practices to facilitate English language learners’ integration into the American public education system; and
- provide access to computers and other learning technologies that can be used to complement in-class instruction and tutoring.
Policy in Action
Placeholder for example(s).
Policy Priority 4: Excellent Leaders and Teachers
Most successful students can share a story of that one teacher or school administrator that had a tremendous impact on their high school experience—someone who took a special interest in them personally, excited their imagination, and helped them overcome obstacles. We celebrate such leaders for the difference they make in the lives of countless young people, and ultimately for their contributions to the success of the nation as a whole.
But stories like these should not be limited to a handful of teachers, principals, or other administrators in a school or district. Instead, every student should benefit from contact with the highest caliber, most effective staff. Schools designated as needing improvement are especially in need of strong and effective leaders.
Policy Recommendations
To provide all students with the excellent leaders and teachers they need to succeed, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends:
- providing higher pay and other incentives, such as home-buying programs or tax credits, to attract highly effective school leaders and teachers to serve in high-need middle and high schools;
- establishing incentives for leaders and teachers whose students and schools show meaningful improvement in academic achievement and other outcomes;
- enabling school leaders and teachers working in high-need schools to teach effectively, as well as to understand students’ school, family, and community through training, effective orientation and mentoring programs, and other professional development opportunities;
- supporting principal and teacher recruitment and preparation that diversify the nation’s principal and teacher pool, integrate culturally competent school and classroom instructional and management techniques, and provide additional financial assistance to teacher candidates;
- developing and supporting education centers of excellence at minority-serving institutions;
- promoting the development of principals and teachers from the community by creating a pipeline that draws from sources such as teacher aides and existing high school students, and by recruiting highly qualified traditional and nontraditional professionals; and
- developing standards for managing diversity in the school context and requiring quality diversity management training and certification as a standard part of principal and teacher training.
Policy in Action
Placeholder for example(s).
Policy Priority 5: Community Investment in Student Success
Families and communities play key roles in shaping the environment for academic and social development. Students in low-performing schools often do not receive the same exposure to outside learning opportunities as their more affluent counterparts. Too often these students do not have access to community support services that can contribute to their overall health, well-being, and development.
Community supports are needed to foster each student’s ability to stay in school, excel academically, and develop into a healthy and productive individual.
Policy Recommendations
To invest communities in the success of all students, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends:
- creating and supporting multilingual parent centers to train parents and other caregivers in interpreting school and student performance data, advocating on behalf of their children, working with their children and school personnel to develop personal graduation plans, and selecting courses their children need to graduate prepared for college and overall success in life;
- providing more support for community-based organizations that run after-school and out-of-school programs, and coordinating these programs to ensure alignment with academic success;
- improving access to community-based resources that support students’ ability to learn by locating services, such as health clinics and child-care centers, within or near schools; and
- creating business and community partnerships that support student enrichment opportunities and facilitate community and college linkages.
Policy in Action
Placeholder for example(s).
Policy Priority 6: Equitable Learning Conditions
It is both an American ideal and a responsibility to provide all students with an education that prepares them for college, work, and life, regardless of family income or neighborhood of residence. Unfortunately, key education resources are not equitably distributed and often low-income and minority students do not receive the high-quality education they deserve. Without adequate resources, all schools are not able to provide the same level and quality of staffing, facilities, textbook and equipment availability, and access to challenging academic coursework.
For high school students, these inequalities are made worse because federal funding intended to supplement the resources of schools in low-income communities are disproportionately allocated to grades K-6 instead of being directed to the areas of greatest need.
Policy Recommendations
To provide equitable learning conditions for all students, the Campaign for High School Equity recommends:
- creating a new federal secondary school improvement fund to turn around low-performing middle and high schools;
- providing sufficient resources to serve English language learners;
- offering federal incentives to encourage states to develop alternative school-finance formulas that minimize heavy reliance on local property taxes; and
- requiring states to compare and publicly report resources available to achieve a sound and basic education at every school; for states where inequities appear, developing five-year plans for equalizing resources and requiring a publicly reported biannual report that evaluates progress toward the five-year goal.
Policy in Action
Placeholder for example(s).