You state two very important points here…

1) We are using the term “college-bound” and that gives everyone the impression that the curriculum is ONLY for students attending college. In my experience in working with business and community leaders to develop the programs on our campus — these leaders want ALL employees to have this curriculum — even the employees in positions that do not require a college degree because the traditional basic “college-prep” program should give all students the basic skills needed for any job or career — plus it gives them the skills they need to continue learning new skills — and I think all of us would agree that this is very essential.

Employers DO NOT want students tracked into “college-bound” or “vocational” — they want students who can communicate well, can do basic math, can use technology proficiently, are knowledgeable about the world and culturally aware, are self-directed, and who are cooperative team-members and responsible citizens.

2) “The other possibility that some of those students don’t go to college is that schools have failed them.” — I agree with you here. Our state is develpping plans to instill a “college bound culture” from PreK through 16. For the past three years all high school students have been required to take the Texas Recommended Diploma — Which is the standard “college-bound” curriculum that most of us are familiar with. So what is going to be different? If the students have been taking this curriculum, then WHY are they still not going to college?

I have a colleague who is now in a central office position, but she used to teach at the middle school level. We had lunch together one day last year and she told me about an incident that occurred with one of her former students. She was visiting one of the local colleges and ran into this student who was in her first semester at college. My colleague asked her how things were going and the student replied “Oh, okay… but all of my classes this semester are remedial and I’m not receiving any credit for the classes that I am taking this semester. I’m so angry with my high school because all they did was focus on the TAKS test — they would pull me out of my regular classes to put me in TAKS tutorials.”… So, imagine for a second the frustration — especially for a young, female, minority student from a low-income family. How much tuition are they paying for classes that won’t count — for courses that cover material that she should have mastered in high school. I wonder if she is even still in college.

One is that a curriculum that that readies students for college may also be the curriculum that readies them for other paths. The president of Central Maine Power recently told a group of us that she has to let go a large number of entry level line readers because they cannot do the basic math necessary to read the meters. Perhaps we are simply using the wrong words - we don’t just want kids ready for college. We want all our kids to be better educated to a higher level.

The other possibility that some of those students don’t go to college is that schools have failed them. When I look at the work of Erin Gruwel and her Freedom Writers, at the work of Jobs for Maine’s Graduates, at the work that Seymour Papert and Jim Moulton have done at the Maine Youth Center I know that when caring educators work to reach those kids we don’t think can go on to college, they can be successful in school and on into college. But they need that door opened to them while they are still in public school.

On our campus we created 4 different Career Academies that merge the Texas Recommended Diploma (college prep) with a four-year CATE course sequence in several different career fields. Our original goal was to develop certification programs for some of the career paths — Basic EMT licensing, CISCO and Microsoft certifications, Pharmacy Tech, etc.

I should state that our structure and four-year plans are in no way designed to track students into “college-bound” or “vocational” tracks. The goal is to develop pathways that tie into student interests — as a way to keep them engaged and interested in school — while providing ALL students with a curriculum that would prepare them for college if they chose to attend.

In fact, a few years ago we met with representatives from one of the local unions to discuss the possibility of linking in to their apprenticeship programs for electrical and construction workers. In the meeting they told us that they wanted their workers to graduate from high school with the same knowledge and skills as students entering college. In other words, they approved of the Texas Recommended Diploma as the minimum, required diploma for all graduates (which is has been across the state since 2003).

However, with increased testing pressure and accountability demands, these career pathways have been viewed as “fluff” that do nothing to contribute to student success on TAKS.

The result has been “watered-down” Career Academies and an increase in TAKS remediation classes. I am hoping we can reverse this trend with our new 9th grade initiative… but I worry about the hundreds of students that we have graduated who did pass the TAKS, but who are minimally prepared for college, because of all of the remedial courses, and who have not had the chance to explore another route. I especially worry about our students who dropped out due to frustration with a system that focused so heavily on TAKS and college-prep that it ignored their needs as learners and as future members of the workforce.