[Vision2020] High School Survey

[Ron Force]

Press Release

April 19, 2005

Governors Seek Input from 10,000 High School Students
NGA Launches Online ''Rate Your Future'' Survey in Ongoing Effort to
Redesign America's High Schools

WASHINGTON-- By the end of this school year, the National Governors
Association (NGA) hopes to survey more than 10,000 high school students on
their expectations and frustrations about America's high schools and how the
work they do affects their futures.

Part of NGA Chairman Virginia Gov. Mark Warner's yearlong "Redesigning the
American High School" initiative, the survey is an opportunity to bring the
student voice into the education reform debate. Students stand to benefit
the most from this reform movement and NGA strongly believes their input
should frame the discussion so every high school student can graduate
prepared for college or a high-skilled job.

Launched in February, the survey, which is available at
www.rateyourfuture.org, will help governors gain valuable insight into
today's high school experience. Governors want to hear if students think
high school is relevant to their own futures. This survey is about getting
all students -- the overachievers, underachievers and everyone in between --
involved in this dialogue.

"The voice of the students has been missing in this conversation about high
school reform that has been going on among the experts and policymakers,"
Gov. Warner said. "The Class of 2005 may have the best ideas we need. If the
students we are trying to help don't see the value of redesigning high
school, we are wasting our time."

This month, NGA received preliminary results from the "Rate Your Future"
survey's first 1,200 student respondents. The initial findings are telling.
Even though America's high school students say they are adequately prepared
in basic reading, math and science skills, statistics show they are
alarmingly unprepared to handle the demands of college and work in the 21st
century. Moreover, more than a third of them say their high schools are not
properly preparing them in many areas critical to their future success.

For example, about one third of students don't feel their schools are
adequately preparing them to think critically, analyze problems and
communicate effectively. Moreover, 43 percent don't believe they are gaining
practical and essential life skills while in high school.

The results reveal students fail to understand that mastering an
academically rigorous high school curriculum, especially during senior year,
will not only help them excel in college, it also will help them graduate
from college on time and make them a more attractive candidate in today's
increasingly competitive job market. Other major initial findings of the
study include:

    * Students strongly sense high school is not adequately preparing them
for their future, and a third -- including those most at risk of dropping
out -- feel overlooked by their high school.
    * Students recognize the importance of senior year, but 49 percent want
it to be significantly more meaningful. They say high schools are lacking
the practical programs and skills that could help them better prepare for
college or a job. Meanwhile 29 percent characterized senior year as a "waste
of time."
    * A large majority, 59 percent, would work harder during senior year if
their school offered more demanding and interesting courses.
    * One-third rate their schools as doing a "fair" or "poor" job of
"giving them the skills to succeed."
    * Three in five students (60 percent) rate their high schools either
"fair" or "poor" in preparing them for a career or trade. Likewise, 57
percent believe their school does a "fair" or "poor" job of preparing them
for the future by providing them with tools to learn a trade or skill.
    * About one-third of students say their high schools are doing a "fair"
or "poor" job in preparing them for college. Only a quarter say their
schools do an "excellent" job.
    * Three in 10 students say their high school does a "fair" or "poor" job
challenging them academically and nearly 70 percent say teachers have high
expectations for only "certain students."

NGA will release the survey's final results shortly before the nation's
governors gather in Des Moines this summer for the 97th NGA Annual Meeting.

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Printed from the NGA web site.