High School Teaching For The Twenty-First Century: Preparing Students For College

Studies show that college remediation rates are high and college completion rates are low, signaling that a fundamental disconnect exists between the way that high school teachers prepare their students for the future and what students truly need to know to meet the demands of college. Decades of reform have focused on restructuring high schools or increasing course requirements for graduation, but the nation has so far failed to address the biggest factor in improving student success—the type of teaching that occurs inside the classroom. Plans and actions designed to reform high schools must include efforts to improve teaching with the goal of preparing all students for postsecondary education.

On September 12, the Alliance looked at how a sustained focus on college readiness can inform, assess, and improve high school teaching for the twenty-first century and released High School Teaching for the Twenty-first Century: Preparing Students for College. In addition, a panel of national experts on teacher quality discussed how the teacher preparation pipeline, from pre-service training to professional development, can be strengthened in order to raise the quality of high school teaching in order to prepare students for success beyond the high school diploma.

The panel included:

• Dr. Linda Darling-Hammond, Stanford University School of Education
• Ms. Kim McClung, Kent-Meridian High School
• Dr. Cyndie Schmeiser, ACT, Inc.
• Dr. Jane West, American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education
• Dr. Doug Wood, National Academy for Excellent Teaching, Teachers College

EVENT AGENDA

Download High School Teaching for the Twenty-first Century: Preparing Students for College  (pdf) issue brief.

A downloadable mp3 audio file of the entire event is available.*

I. Welcome

Bob Wise, President, Alliance for Excellent Education Video

II. Remarks on the Brief

“High School Teaching for the Twenty-first Century: Preparing Students for College”
Jeremy Ayers, Policy and Advocacy Associate, Alliance for Excellent Education Video

III. Panel Discussion: Teaching for College Readiness in the Twenty-first Century

Jane West, Vice President of Government and External Relations, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (moderator) Video

Panel Discussion Video

Linda Darling-Hammond, Professor of Education, Stanford University School of Education

Kim McClung, English Teacher, Kent-Meridian High School, Washington State

Cyndie Schmeiser, President, Education Division, ACT, Inc.

Doug Wood, Executive Director, National Academy for Excellent Teaching, Teachers College

IV. Audience Question & Answer Video