The New York Times reports this morning (free registration required) on efforts to expand federal control over high school education well beyond current levels.
The report charges that employers and postsecondary institutions “all but ignore the diploma, knowing that it often serves as little more than a certificate of attendance,” because “what it takes to earn one is disconnected from what it takes for graduates to compete successfully beyond high school.”
The diploma project comes as others are looking for ways to improve high schools. A commission appointed by the National Assessment Governing Board is studying whether national 12th grade tests should try to measure high school seniors’ readiness for work and college. The board sets policy for the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or N.A.E.P., the nationwide examinations given in 4th, 8th and 12th grades and referred to as the “the nation’s report card.”
