Golden+Seals+but+No+Skills

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Overview
Many students are going through the motions and receiving credit for high school courses even though they only do the bare minimum amount of work in order to pass the class. By simply going through the motions because they have been told that they have to graduate, are students really earning that high school diploma and ready for the next step? High school graduation rates have been steadily increasing over the past decade.7 The percent of these graduating seniors that are college and career ready is not following suit.1 This brings into question whether expectations are being lowered in order to earn a high school diploma or if students are now receiving so much support in high school that they are unable to accomplish the same goals on their own once they graduate and enter the work force or post-secondary education.

When students come out of high school without the skills necessary to succeed in post-secondary education they are not only less likely to go to college, but also unlikely to finish college and earn a degree if they do.2 There has been a focus on increasing high school graduation rates across the United States with the expectation of increasing the ability for the youth of our nation to become essential aspects of the work force, thus strengthening our economy. There are vital skills that students are supposed to learn through K-12 education in order to properly prepare them for life after high school whether they go on to post-secondary education or immediately enter the work force. Data shows that college and career readiness is declining even though high school graduation rates are rising1, 17, 12, 7; which does not make sense if students are required to reach the same academic standards as previous generations.

In order to combat the deficiency of skills necessary to succeed after high school, there has been a change of focus within the K-12 curriculum standards to increase the attention of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts and practices. This has been the driving force behind the creation and implementation of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) which were initially released in 2013. "The NGSS aim [is] to prepare students to be better decision makers about scientific and technical issues and to apply science to their daily lives. By blending core science knowledge with scientific practices, students are engaged in a more relevant context that deepens their understanding and helps them to build what they need to move forward with their education -whether that's moving on to a four-year college or moving into post-secondary training," said Matt Krehbiel, Science Education Program Consultant, of Kansas”. 5

Prior to the release of the new standards, science teachers focused on teaching vocabulary and content knowledge. A typical science classroom would involve the teacher lecturing about a topic, students taking notes, and then students regurgitating memorized information on an exam in order to prove that they have mastered the content. The NGSS are transforming the science classroom into a place of practicing science rather than memorizing scientific concepts. The three dimensional framework for the NGSS incorporates science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core ideas within every standard. The science and engineering practices teach students how to do science; what is actually involved in a scientific investigation. Crosscutting concepts “help provide students with an organizational framework for connecting knowledge from various disciplines into a coherent and scientifically based view of the world”.2 Disciplinary core ideas are used to focus K-12 education on the most important aspects of science. This three dimensional framework is especially important in order to prepare students to be successful critical thinkers and problem solvers whether they decide to go on to post -secondary education or enter the workforce directly upon high school graduation.

Trends and Issues
Students graduating from high school that are not college and career ready is a trend and an issue. As graduation rates have risen over the past decade, the amount of students who are enrolling in college have decreased and the amount of remedial courses have been on the rise in order to make up for the lack of student academic abilities. “Among 2003–04 high school seniors who had enrolled in post-secondary education by 2006, 40 percent took remedial courses; in public two year colleges, the remediation was needed for 51 percent of their entering students”. 3 Remedial courses are an expensive alternative to preparing students for post-secondary education during high school. Not only are students in need of remediation more likely to drop out of school, but if they do, their overall earning potential falls and this in turn “costs the nation’s gross domestic product an estimated $2.3 billion a year”.3

According to Royster, Gross, and Hochbein, “Only 25% of the class of 2011 who took an ACT exam demonstrated college readiness in all four subjects (ACT, 2011b). This indicated that only 19 out of every 100 high school students graduated are prepared for the rigors of post-secondary work” (2015).13 As the amount of jobs in STEM fields continue to rise, so too does the need for proper preparation for students before graduating high school. “Education and training in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) stands as our most important tool for ensuring individual and national prosperity. According to the Department of Commerce, from 2000 to 2010, jobs in STEM fields grew at three times the rate of any other field. Through 2018, jobs in STEM fields are expected to increase by 17 percent, nearly double the projected growth rate of other jobs. The numbers speak for themselves. A strong foundation of mathematics and science learning at every level of the workforce is more important than ever”.11

Since the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) in 2013, they have been adopted by 18 states as well as the District of Columbia.10 South Dakota has adopted similar standards with slight modifications, and Georgia will be implementing the new Georgia Standards of Excellence (GSE) at the beginning of the 2017-18 school year. Georgia’s GSE are based on NGSS but geared toward students in Georgia’s schools. As this three dimensional framework gains momentum across the nation, the science classroom is continually transforming to teach students critical skills in order to be successful in life after K-12 education. The NGSS may be the answer that our nation’s schools have been searching for to prepare future generations for the world ahead.


 * References**

1. ACT, Inc. (2016). The Condition of College & Career Readiness 2016. Retrieved from http://www.act.org/content/dam/act/unsecured/documents/CCCR_National_2016.pdf This report was released by ACT that compares national student achievement on the ACT during the 2016 school year.

2. Board on Science Education. (2012) A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas. Retrieved from https://www.nap.edu/read/13165/chapter/2 This book is the foundation for the new Next Generation Science Standards and explains exactly why the three dimensions of the standards are all significant.

3. College- and Career-Ready Students. Retrieved from https://www2.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/blueprint/college-career-ready.pdf This report explains the consequences of improper preparation of students in high school and how schools in need of additional support perform after receiving additional funding.

4. DePaoli, J. L., Balfanz, R., & Bridgeland, J. (2016). Building a Grad Nation: Progress and Challenge in Raising High School Graduation Rates. Retrieved from http://gradnation.americaspromise.org/sites/default/files/d8/2016-05/civic_2016_full_report_FNL.pdf This report provides detailed explanations about the current state of high school graduation rates and shows the progress of the nation in moving toward achieving the goal of 90 percent graduation rate nation wide.

5. Final Next Generation Science Standards Released. (2013, April 09). Retrieved from https://www.nextgenscience.org/news/final-next-generation-science-standards-released This is the press release stating the NGSS have been published, what they are, why they're important, and who helped create them.

6. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies. Retrieved from http://collegeready.rice.edu/why-college-readiness-important This is a page on the Center for College Readiness website that explains the importance of being college and career ready coming out of high school.

7. High School Graduation Rates by State. Retrieved from http://www.governing.com/gov-data/high-school-graduation-rates-by-state.html <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This is an article that lays out the trends in graduation rates over the past 5 years in every state.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">8. Kamenetz, A. (2015, June 09). High School Graduation Rates: The Good, The Bad And The Ambiguous. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2015/06/09/412939852/high-school-graduation-rates-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ambiguous <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This is an article that looks into how the graduation is rising, but there are still people falling between the cracks and what support systems are in place to help those pass classes, but not necessarily learn the material.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">9. Layton, L. (2014, April 28). National high school graduation rates at historic high. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/high-school-graduation-rates-at-historic-high/2014/04/28/84eb0122-cee0-11e3-937f-d3026234b51c_story.html?utm_term=.07e15e9215e3 <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This article goes into detail about states where high school graduation rates have risen, while others have fallen, how students from different demographic categories rates differ and how the overall national graduation rate is not a true reflection of the nation's graduation rates.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">10. NASBE. Retrieved from http://www.nasbe.org/project/next-generation-science-standards/ <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This page tells you how many stated have adopted NGSS and how NASBE is going to support theses states as well as persuade others to join them.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">11. Next Generation Science Standards: Statement of Support. Retrieved from https://www.nextgenscience.org/sites/default/files/NGSS%20Business%20Support%20Letter%20REVISED%206.25.14.pdf <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This is a statement that is signed by multiple large corporations that show they are all in agreement that shifting gears in the science classroom is necessary to properly prepare students for the future.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">12. Press, J. C. (2016, August 28). Number of college-ready sees decline. Retrieved from http://www.columbian.com/news/2016/aug/28/number-of-college-ready-sees-decline/ <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This article gives an overview of the 2016 ACT college and career readiness report.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">13. Royster, P., Gross, J., & Hochbein, C. (2015, April 23). Timing is Everything: Getting Students Back on Track to College Readiness in High School. Retrieved from https://muse.jhu.edu/article/579462/pdf <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This study shows trends of student preparedness for life after high school and what time in a students life is most critical for becoming college and career ready.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">14. Sambolt, M., & Blumenthal, D. (2013, March). Promoting College and Career Readiness: A Pocket Guide for State and District Leaders. Retrieved from http://www.air.org/sites/default/files/downloads/report/CCR_Pocket_Guide_0.pdf <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This guide explains why college and career readiness is important and how to properly teach students critical skills in the classroom.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">15. Thompson, D. (2013, September 05). College Enrollment Plummeted in 2012, but for Very <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Good Reasons. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/09/college-enrollment-plummeted-in-2012-but-for-very-good-reasons/279389/ <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This article explains that there is a good side to the drop in college enrollment and shines a light on changes we are currently facing in the job world.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">16. Wise, B. (2008, May). High Schools at the Tipping Point. Retrieved from http://www.csun.edu/~krowlands/Content/SED610/lessons/Week%201/Wise-hs%20at%20tipping%20point.pdf <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This journal explains the need for change in the classroom in order to prepare students for the future and how to change the classroom to meet these needs.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">17. Wong, A. (2016, January 11). Where Are All the High-School Grads Going? Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/where-are-all-the-high-school-grads-going/423285/ <span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Open Sans',sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This article explains the change in the typical path of graduating and immediately enrolling in college; now high school graduates are entering the labor force directly after receiving their diplomas.