Perspectives: Improving Alignment, Advancing Students

The advent of the global economy and narrowing international gaps in educational attainment have caught the attention of the nation’s policymakers. Increasingly, they are focusing on the effectiveness of educational systems as a means of improving the nation’s competitive position. It is now widely acknowledged that advanced skills and preparation, regardless of a student’s post-high school path, are essential for success in the emerging economy. This represents a dramatic worldview shift from a generation ago, when society did not envision a universal expectation of postsecondary education and even debated whether too many Americans were going to college. In short, the nation’s expectations of its postsecondary pipeline have soared in a relatively short period of time.

Unfortunately, that pipeline is not adequately configured to meet society’s evolving demands. A wealth of research and analysis generated over the past two decades culminates in several stark conclusions:

• High school graduation requirements are too weak to assure college and workplace readiness.

• The high school-college transition is anything but smooth.

• There is a general lack of clarity about what skills and competencies are required for postsecondary success.

• Students face a bewildering array of largely disjointed assessments at various transition points—high school graduation, college admission, and college placement.

•Opportunities for high school students to engage in advanced, college-level coursework—a strategy for preparing for the rigors of college—are unevenly distributed and frequently underutilized.

Should Undocumented Immigrants Have Access to In-State Tuition?

Policy Matters, vol 2 no 6
Context
Immigration issues have become controversial in recent years due to the influx of immigrants into the United States and fear over security and safety post-9/11. From driver’s licenses to welfare—these issues have caused emotional debate as both sides wrangle over the rights and needs of immigrants. Since 2001, state legislatures have been battling another contentious issue – whether to provide undocumented students who have lived in this country for many years a chance at an affordable college education. It’s a subject that heats up each legislative session in as many as twenty states across the country. Fights have been so ugly that legislators have received threatening messages, been lambasted on the radio and removed their sponsorship of the bills.
In the last five years, nine states passed legislation allowing undocumented immigrants to receive in-state tuition.

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